GIFT   OF 
JANE  K.SATHER 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN 
AND    METHODS 


NAPOLEON'S    MEN 
AND    METHODS 


BY 

ALEXANDER   L.   KIELLAND 


TRANSLATED  BY  JOSEPH  McCABE 

(AUTHOR  OF  *TALLEYRAND') 


WITH  A  PREFACE  BY 
OSCAR    BROWNING 

KING'S    COLLEGE,    CAMBRIDGE 


With  Dignities  by  M.  LOOSE,  and  a  Frontispiece 


NEW  YORK 
BRENTANO'S 

1908 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE,  BY  OSCAR  BROWNING 
INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

7 
13 

CHAPTER     I  . 

19 

II   

66 

Ill   .... 

99 

„         IV   

.     144 

V   

.     190 

VI   

.     213 

„       VII    

.     255 

„   vm  

.     293 

IX  

.     314 

x  . 

337 

PREFACE 

The  history  of  Napoleon  is  of  inexhaustible 
interest.  When  the  English  government  decided 
to  send  him  to  St.  Helena,  after  the  battle  of 
Waterloo,  Lord  Liverpool  wrote  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  that  in  that  island  he  would  soon  be 
forgotten ;  he  even  repeated  this  remark  in 
another  letter.  *  Yes,'  he  said,  '  he  will  soon  be 
forgotten.'  Yet  at  the  present  time  there  is  no 
individual  about  whom  more  is  written  in  all 
languages  and  in  all  branches  of  literature. 
Histories,  novels,  plays,  are  never  tired  of  his 
story,  and  a  serious  student  finds  that  there  is 
no  personality  about  whom  more  discoveries  are 
constantly  being  made  and  with  regard  to  whom 
it  is  more  necessary  to  reconsider  his  judgment. 
At  the  dawn  of  the  XlXth  century,  two  great  names, 
one  in  literature  and  one  in  the  world  of  action 
arrest  the  attention  of  mankind :  Goethe  and 
Napoleon.  Their  careers  have  been  so  minutely 
studied  that  we  are  acquainted  with  what  they 
did  every  day,  almost  every  hour  of  their  lives. 
Yet  subjected  to  this  fierce  light  of  publicity,  which 
few  could  endure,  they  both  gain  by  it,  and 
Napoleon  not  the  less.  The  more  we  know  about 
him  the  more  we  admire  him,  the  more  reasonable 
do  his  actions  appear,  the  less  well  founded  the 
stories  which  are  told  to  his  discredit. 

Napoleon  was  born  a  French  subject,  in 
Corsica,  of  a  noble  family  of  Italian  descent.  He 
received  an  excellent  education  in  military  colleges, 


8*  PREFACE 


distinguished  Himself  by  his  diligence  and  regu- 
larity, entered  the  artillery,  and  was  made  a 
general  at  the  age  of  twenty-three.  During  this 
time  he  had  been  the  prop  and  guardian  of  his 
family,  which  had  been  left  in  a  sad  condition  by 
the  early  death  of  his  father.  He  had  gained  the 
highest  credit  for  his  conduct  at  the  siege  of 
Toulon,  where  he  had  been  the  means  of  driving 
the  English  fleet  out  of  the  harbour,  and  delivering 
the  town  into  the  hands  of  the  French.  His  next 
service  of  importance  was  in  Italy,  where,  by  a 
strategy  which  is  still  a  model  to  soldiers,  he 
defeated  the  allied  armies  of  Piedmont  and 
Austria,  and  subdued  the  whole  of  the  Lombard 
plain.  In  this  he  was  acting  as  general  of  the 
Directory.  It  was  not  he,  but  they,  who  plundered 
the  museums  and  libraries  of  the  conquered 
country.  But  when  the  Directory  wished  to 
annex  Italy  to  France,  he  withstood  them,  making 
Italy  into  a  self-governing  Republic,  and  giving 
to  Austria  the  rotten  oligarchy  of  Venice,  a  govern- 
ment so  degenerate  that  it  could  neither  endure 
its  maladies  nor  the  remedies  which  were  necessary 
to  cure  them.  To  receive  Belgium  and  Lombardy 
from  Austria  in  exchange  for  Venice  was  a  good 
bargain,  although  it  cost  Napoleon  much  to  make 
the  sacrifice.  After  this  the  young  general  was 
sent  to  Egypt,  where  he  conducted  a  notable 
campaign,  which,  however,  led  to  no  permanent 
result. 

The  Directory  was  the  worst  government  with 
which  France  was  ever  cursed.  It  had  no  dignity, 
authority,  or  power,  it  could  not  preserve  order 


PREFACE  9 

at  home,  and  it  lost  abroad  what  more  energetic 
rulers  had  acquired.  Napoleon  was  justified  in 
saying,  when  he  returned  from  Egypt :  '  What 
have  you  done  with  the  country  which  I  left  so 
powerful  ?'  The  French  people  were  tired  of  the 
Directory,  and  they  were  tired  of  themselves. 
Bonaparte  became  First  Consul  by  the  wish  of 
the  nation,  the  fittest  man,  indeed,  the  only  man, 
to  repair  the  errors  of  the  past  and  to  restore 
France  to  its  proper  place  in  the  family  of  nations. 
His  first  act  was  to  offer  peace  to  England  and 
Austria,  offers  which  were  insultingly  refused. 
He  compelled  Austria  to  make  peace  by  the  battle 
of  Marengo,  and  England  was  soon  obliged  to 
follow  her  example.  The  Peace  of  Amiens  ensued 
and  Englishmen  could  again  visit  Paris,  from 
which  they  had  been  excluded  for  a  decade. 

The  Peace  of  Amiens  was  broken  in  May,  1803, 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  it  was  broken 
by  England.  Such  is  the  verdict  of  independent 
authorities,  who  are  not  favourable  to  Napoleon. 
It  was  the  interest  of  England  to  make  war, 
whereas  peace  was  essential  for  the  furtherance 
of  Napoleon's  plans.  Then  began  for  Napoleon 
the  war  with  England,  which  did  not  cease  till 
his  defeat  at  Waterloo.  We  need  not  repeat,  even 
in  a  summary,  the  well-known  tale  of  the  Emperor's 
victorious  career,  but  the  statement  that  he  was 
insatiable  of  blood,  and  that  peace  was  impossible 
for  him  will  not  bear  examination.  He  made 
peace  with  his  enemies  when  he  could,  forcing 
them  on  their  knees  and  claiming  the  spoils  of 
yictory ;  but  England  was  always  implacable, 


10  PREFACE 

always  on  the  watch,  and  war  was  again  stirred 
up  and  supported  by  English  millions.  It  is 
customary  to  condemn  his  action  with  regard  to 
Spain  and  Russia,  but  Spain  was  a  dependency 
of  France,  which  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
preserve  in  a  condition  of  tolerable  government 
and  of  loyalty  to  the  French  alliance.  To  place 
Joseph  on  the  throne  of  Spain  was  certainly  not 
more  reprehensible  than  to  give  the  crown  of 
that  country  to  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  The 
expedition  to  Russia,  which  Napoleon  afterwards 
regarded  as  a  fatal  mistake,  has  not  yet  been 
completely  elucidated.  We  do  not  precisely  know 
the  causes  of  it,  the  plans  of  Napoleon  in  respect 
of  it,  or  the  proper  apportionment  of  blame 
between  Alexander  and  Napoleon  for  its  having 
taken  place.  At  any  rate,  it  broke  the  power  of 
Napoleon,  which  no  other  country  in  Europe 
had  been  able  to  destroy.  It  was  fated  that  he 
should  only  be  conquered  by  himself. 

In  his  misfortunes,  friends  and  enemies  rose 
against  him,  Saxony  alone  remaining  faithful. 
Austria  made  the  great  mistake  of  joining  the  coali- 
tion, and  entered  upon  a  course  which  delivered  her, 
at  a  later  period,  an  easy  prey  to  Germany.  It 
is  commonly  said  that  at  this  time  Napoleon 
ought  to  have  made  peace,  but  historical  research 
has  shown  that  he  could  not  have  done  so,  and 
that  every  offer  submitted  to  him  was  a  trap 
which  it  was  wisdom  to  avoid.  He  fell  on  the 
plains  of  France  before  his  converging  enemies. 
He  abdicated  at  Fontainebleau  and  retired  to  Elba. 
It  was  impossible  that  he  should  stay  there. 


PREFACE  11 

The  pension  promised  to  himself  and  his  family 
was  not  paid,  his  wife  and  child  were  withheld 
from  him,  plans  were  formed  for  deporting  him 
to  the  Azores.  He  took  an  heroic  course,  he 
landedfon  the  coast  of  Provence  with  a  thousand 
men,  marched  to  Paris  without  firing  a  shot,  and 
entered  the  Tuileries,  decorated  and  crowded  for 
his  reception.  Never  in  history  was  there  a  more 
emphatic  plebiscite,  never  a  clearer  announcement 
of  a  nation's  will.  Deaf  to  this  appeal  and  blind 
to  the  consequences  of  their  action,  the  diplomats 
of  Vienna,  led  by  Talleyrand,  and  followed,  alas  ! 
by  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  made  ruthless  war 
against  him,  and  in  the  battle  of  Waterloo  he 
suffered  irreparable  defeat.  What  followed  is 
not  pleasant  for  an  Englishman  to  relate.  We 
denied  him  the  hospitality  he  asked  for,  and  sent 
him  to  perish  by  a  slow  but  inevitable  death  on 
the  rock  of  St.  Helena. 

Such  was,  in  brief,  >his  marvellous  history. 
How  are  we  to  judge  his  character  and  his  career  ? 
The  dominant  passion  of  Napoleon  was  that 
nothing  within  his  grasp  should  be  done  badly  if 
it  might  be  done  well.  There  were  two  principles 
at  work  in  the  French  Revolution,  often  mingled, 
sometimes  undistinguishable,  reform  and  anarchy, 
Napoleon  was  a  friend  of  reform,  but  he  was  a 
bitter  enemy  of  anarchy.  No  man  living  ever 
possessed  a  better  ordered  mind,  and  he  desired 
that  everywhere  should  reign  the  order  which  he 
felt  within  himself.  England  made  the  great 
mistake  of  regarding  him  as  the  continuator  of 
the  Revolution.  He  was  the  negation  of  the 


12  PREFACE 

Revolution,  the  repairer  of  its  errors,  the  rebuilder 
of  its  ruins.  Consequently  the  most  enlightened 
men  of  Europe  were  on  his  side.  Italy  owes  to 
him  its  creation,  Bavaria  her  civilization.  Examine 
where  you  will,  the  Napoleonic  governments  were 
everywhere  good,  until  they  were  spoilt  by  the 
exigencies  of  the  war  which  was  forced  upon  him 
by  the  hostility  of  England.  If  France  does  not 
admire  him  to-day,  she  is  supremely  ungrateful. 
Without  him,  she  would  not  exist.  When  ten 
years  of  anarchy  had  destroyed  in  that  country  not 
only  all  government,  but  all  the  elements  out  of 
which  a  Government  could  be  formed,  Napoleon 
appeared  as  the  great  restorer,  and  the  most 
stable  elements  in  France  at  this  moment  owe 
their  origin  to  him. 

This  is  the  story  which  you  are  about  to  study 
in  the  present  volume.  It  is  written  by  a  Norwegian, 
and  is  therefore  more  impartial  than  if  it  had 
been  written  by  an  Englishman,  a  Frenchman,  or 
a  German.  It  has  had  a  large  circulation  on 
the  Continent.  It  is  brilliantly  composed,  and 
will  doubtless  have  many  readers  in  this  country 
who  will  be  induced  by  its  perusal  to  explore, 
from  a  less  insular  point  of  view,  the  most  mar- 
vellous, the  most  fascinating,  the  most  instructive, 
career  of  any  individual  of  modern  times. 

OSCAR   BROWNING 
KING'S  COLLEGE 
CAMBRIDGE 
1907 


INTRODUCTION 


The  following  study  of  Napoleon  is  an 
incidental  outcome  of  research  that  I  under- 
took for  a  different  theme.  I  had  an  idea 
of  mastering  the  reaction  which,  as  I  believe, 
settled  over  the  whole  of  Europe,  after  a  brief 
period  of  advance,  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  For  this  purpose  I  proposed  to  make  a 
thorough  study  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  and 
this  occupied  me  from  1895  to  1898. 

But  as  the  inquiry  proceeded  I  found  it  more 
and  more  difficult  to  interpret  the  story  of  the 
reaction  from  the  Congress  of  Vienna  to  our  own 
time.  It  seemed  as  if  everything  turned  on  a 
point  that  lay  further  back.  I  could  not  advance 
a  single  step,  but  was  drawn,  against  my  will, 
into  the  circle  in  which  men  and  ideas  moved. 
I  made  every  effort  to  advance  from  the  stand- 
point I  had  chosen,  but  I  was  forced  to  turn  my 
eyes  in  the  direction  in  which  they  all  looked. 
Then  I  caught  sight  of  the  little  man  with  the 
folded  arms  and  the  hat  set  crosswise  on  his  head. 


14  INTRODUCTION 

I  flung  everything  else  aside  and  fastened  on 
Napoleon,  whom,  at  first,  I  had  deliberately 
excluded  from  my  historical  inquiry. 

In  thinking  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  I  am 
always  reminded  of  two  caricatures  of  the  time. 
The  first  represents  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe 
as  children,  sitting,  with  paper  crowns  on  their 
heads,  at  a  long  table  and  playing  with  guns  and 
tin  soldiers.  Then  enters  the  officer  with  the 
announcement  from  the  Consul  at  Livorno  that 
Napoleon  has  left  Elba.  He  brings  a  new  toy, 
a  box,  which  he  flings  on  the  table  amongst  the 
eagerly  expectant  children. 

Suddenly  a  little  man  with  folded  arms  and 
crossed  hat  leaps  out  of  the  box  ;  and  the  second 
caricature  shows  all  the  sovereigns  scrambling  to 
get  under  the  table,  and  the  little  man  etanding 
alone  amongst  the  scattered  toys.  I  have  such 
a  vivid  impression  of  these  caricatures  that  I 
cannot  really  say  whether  I  saw  them,  or  only 
read  of  them,  or,  in  fact,  invented  the  whole  thing 
myself.  But  that  was  what  actually  took  place. 

They  were  so  pitifully  small,  these  princes 
and  courtiers,  parading  in  the  venerable  chambers 
at  Vienna,  and  strutting  about  before  each  other 
and  the  ladies,  much  like  the  cocks  in  the  barn-yard 
when  the  hawk  has  flown  away.  The  most  brazen 
of  them  all  is  Metternich's  private  secretary, 
Gentz.  He  has  all  the  refined  vices  of  the  time 
together  with  an  unblushing  vulgarity  that  shrinks 
from  nothing.  He  crawls  in  the  dust,  and  is 
ready  to  lend  himself  to  any  petty  manoeuvre. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

But  at  the  same  time  he  sees  the  threads  of  the 
intrigues  and  plots  better  than  any  other,  and  he 
jots  down  in  his  diary  for  his  own  edification : 

6  As  I  have  nothing  in  the  least  to  reproach 
myself  with,  I  am  far  from  being  depressed 
by  my  intimate  knowledge  of  the  miserable 
business  that  was  done  here  and  of  the  mean 
creatures  who  rule  the  world.  On  the 
contrary,  it  amuses  me,  and  I  enjoy  the  whole 
thing  as  a  sort  of  play  that  is  enacted  for  my 
express  entertainment.' 

With  this  eel-like  slipperiness  he  came  in 
the  end  to  attain  an  enormous  influence,  although 
his  official  position  in  so  important  an  assembly 
was  inconsiderable.  But  he  was  not  duped. 
After  one  of  the  dinners  that  he  gave,  he  writes 
in  his  diary  : 

'  I  took  hardly  any  part  in  the  conversation. 

The  talk   was   all  between  Metternich   and 

Talleyrand,  on  the  usual  lines.     But  I  felt 

more  keenly  than  ever  how  vapid  life  is,  and 

how  frail  the  men  are  who  have  the  fate  of 

the  world  in  their  hands ;    while  I  enjoyed 

my  ascendancy  without  pressing  it.       The 

frivolous  chatter  of  the  princes  had  drawn  a 

sort  of  mist  over  my  mind.' 

There   was  little  to   choose   between   them. 

After  all  the  years  of  anxiety  and  humiliation, 

when  everything  in  Europe  had  been  turned  upside 

down,  they  had  lost  all  feeling  of  restraint.     All 

the    leading    families    in    Europe    had    suffered 

heavily,  in  the  loss  of  wealth  and  property,  and  in 


16  INTRODUCTION 

sorrow  over  the  bright  young  generation  that  had 
fallen  in  the  field,  or  returned  from  it  wounded 
and  crippled,  with  no  result  but  defeat  and 
humiliation.  And  the  most  frightful  circumstance 
of  all  was  that  they  had  had  to  entertain  in  their 
castles  the  man  whose  name  they  could  not  bring 
themselves  to  utter,  or  had  been  forced  to  come 
and  do  him  homage.  Then  there  was  all  the 
deception  that  had  been  practised  when  the 
ladies  at  the  older  courts  crowded  about  the  dust- 
covered  adjutants  who  brought  the  first  news 
from  the  field  of  battle  in  the  usual  terms  : 

'The  French,  with  20,000  men,  attacked  a 
Russian  corps  of  5,000  under  Prince  Bagration. 
Bonaparte  himself  was  present.  The  Russians  bore 
down  on  them,  cut  down  the  French  like  mush- 
rooms, killed  Marshal  Soult,  and  after  a  brilliant 
fight,  reached  the  main  body.'  And,  after  two  or 
three  dances,  there  is  a  rush  to  the  stairs,  shrieking 
and  consternation,  and  a  general  flight  down  the 
corridors  and  to  the  back  doors.  The  French 
have  reached  the  city.  Marshal  Soult,  Duke  of 
Dalmatia,  may  be  at  the  castle  before  the  sun 
goes  down. 

That  was  all  over  when  they  came  together 
again  at  Vienna — kings  and  emperors  and  great 
nobles,  Metternich,  Schwartzenberg,  Hardenberg, 
Castlereagh,  Nesselrode,  and,  above  all,  Talleyrand 
with  the  lame  foot  and  the  thirteen  oaths  of 
loyalty.  Which  of  them  could  fling  the  first 
stone  at  him  ?  Even  we,  to-day,  despise  rather 
the  prince  who  received  his  thirteenth  oath,  and 


INTRODUCTION  17 

the  contemporaries  who  looked  on  all  his  successive 
promises  of  allegiance  with  complacency. 

The  ability  of  Talleyrand,  in  its  cold  false- 
ness, scattered  the  politics  of  his  time  to  right 
and  left  like  heaps  of  snow,  and  marked  out  the 
way  for  them  all  with  such  grace  and  amenity, 
such  clearness  and  acuteness,  that  it  has  the  air 
of  the  most  rigorous  probity.  After  the  second 
restoration  a  distinguished  French  emigre  came  to 
Talleyrand  and  asked  for  his  influence  in  securing 
a  suitable  position  in  the  new  court. 

4  Certainly.  But  what  services  do  you  rely 
on  in  pleading  your  case  ?' 

'  I  went  with  the  king  to  Ghent  during  the 
Hundred  Days.' 

*  Are  you  quite  sure  ?  Did  you  really  go 
with  him  to  Ghent,  or  were  you  only  one  of  those 
who  came  back  with  him  ?  Because,  you  see, 
there  were  only  seven  or  eight  hundred  that  went 
with  him  to  Ghent,  but  when  we  reached  France 
we  numbered  about  five  thousand.3 

In  his  shrewdness  he  overlooked  no  current 
of  feeling.  But  in  whatever  direction  the  new 
current  set,  it  always  ended  in  the  direction  that 
Talleyrand  wished.  In  1807,  when  he  signed  the 
Peace  of  Tilsit,  after  the  battle  of  Friedland,  and 
when  Napoleon's  star  seemed  to  be  at  the  first 
magnitude,  Talleyrand  said  to  himself :  '  There 
is  nothing  decisive  in  the  victory  of  Jena,  in  all 
the  blood  that  has  been  spilt  at  Eylau,  or  in  the 
triumph  of  Friedland.  Poland  has  not  been 
restored.  Prussia,  bleeding  and  bruised,  is  still 


B 


18  INTRODUCTION 

alive  and  thinking  of  revenge.  The  Tsar,  who 
has  been  beaten  and  has  lost  his  army,  has  received 
a  million  fresh  subjects  in  Finland.'  Talleyrand 
saw  from  this  moment  that  Napoleon  was  really 
sinking.  He  turned  to  other  masters,  and  at 
once  set  afoot  his  intrigues  with  the  Bourbons. 

At  the  Congress  of  Vienna  he  had  so  great 
an  ascendancy  that  no  one  dared  even  to  hint  his 
astonishment  at  seeing  him  there  at  all,  to  say 
nothing  of  his  being  the  first  envoy  of  the  Bourbons. 
His  presence  harmonised  with  the  general  feeling 
of  security.  When  they  heard  his  lame  foot 
trailing  over  the  floor  of  the  Viennese  palace, 
they  felt  that  it  was  all  over  with  the  muddy 
boots  that  used  to  break  in  at  the  middle  of  a 
ball.  But  in  spite  of  all  came  the  sudden  shock 
that  ran  through  the  city.  He  was  here  again. 
Napoleon  had  left  Elba.  All  the  old  terror  broke 
out  afresh,  and  they  scrambled  under  the  table, 
or  hurried  home — each  one  thinking  only  of 
himself  and  his  own. 

I  too  left  the  Vienna  Congress  and  began  at 
the  beginning.  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  born 
on  August  15th,  1769.  As  I  read  the  story  of 
his  life,  I  noticed  numbers  of  small  traits  that  I 
now  present  in  my  own  fashion. 


CHAPTER    I 

Napoleon  did  not  enter  the  service  of  any  of 
the  political  sections  in  France,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  later  years  of  the  Republic  that  he  began, 
purely  in  his  capacity  as  officer,  to  take  any 
notice  of  politics.  After  the  re-taking  of  Toulon 
under  his  direction,  his  talent  was  so  far  recognised 
in  military  circles,  that  the  war  in  Italy  was  really 
conducted  according  to  his  plans,  though  he  was 
then  only  a  general  of  a  division.  In  1796  he 
was  appointed  to  the  supreme  command  of  the 
Republican  troops  in  Italy.  He  was  then  in  his 
twenty-seventh  year,  and  it  was  in  the  same  year 
that  he  married  Josephine. 

On  April  12th  he  fought  the  battle  of 
Montenotte,  one  of  the  first  in  the  series  of  eighteen 
great  pitched  battles  that  he  won  before  the  peace  of 
Campo  Formio  in  1797,  and  the  names  of  which 
still  reflect  his  early  glory — Millesimo,  Mondovi, 
Lodi,  Arcole,  Rivoli,  etc. 


20  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

The  day  after  the  battle  of  Montenotte,  as 
the  different  divisions  of  the  French  army,  which 
had  hitherto  fought  independently  and  had  seen 
little  of  each  other,  marched  all  together  over  the 
plain  in  the  bright  sunshine,  and  took  their  places 
along  the  shimmering  Bormida,  without  any 
confusion  or  disorder,  it  flashed  on  the  old  soldiers 
at  once  that  a  new  spirit  had  taken  the  lead.  On 
that  day  were  born  the  confidence  in  and 
enthusiasm  for  the  young  commander  that  grew 
stronger  and  stronger.  All  of  them,  generals  and 
soldiers,  devoted  themselves  to  him  for  life  and 
death.  Prom  that  came' the  blind  unwavering 
obedience  and  trust  that  brought  success  to 
Bonaparte's  carefully  planned  and  able  com- 
binations. 

While,  not  merely  the  whole  of  France,  but 
the  whole  of  fighting  Europe,  now  began  to  listen 
to  his  name,  it  was  not  less  remarkable  how  quickly 
the  veterans  of  the  Republic  discovered  the 
great  leader.  They  were  accustomed  to  having 
their  commanders  sent  down  by  each  succeeding 
government  at  Paris,  sometimes  genuine  officers, 
at  others  men  who  had  pushed  their  way  to  the 
front  in  the  troublous  times  of  the  Revolution. 
After  the  battle  of  Lodi  a  deputation  of  old 
grenadiers  came  to  Napoleon's  tent  and  told  him 
that  he  had  been  appointed  corporal  by  the  army  ! 
After  Castiglione  he  was  made  sergeant.  Bonaparte 
was  shrewd  enough  to  understand  and  appreciate 
these  things ;  and  ever  afterwards,  in  all  his 
campaigns,  even  in  the  days  of  misfortune,  a  smile 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  21 

passed  over  his  features  when  some  old  grenadier 
in  the  ranks  called  him  *  the  little  corporal.' 

The  love  and  regard  of  the  army  for  this 
leader  who  never  spared  himself  led  in  1797,  when 
he  barely  escaped  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
Austrians,  to  the  formation  of  a  guard  of  honour 
for  him.  Napoleon  afterwards  made  his  corps 
of  Guards  out  of  this  famous  troop  of  guides, 
and  the  uniform  of  an  officer  of  the  Guards- 
green  with  red  facings — was  his  favourite  one. 
Bessieres,  head  of  a  squadron,  who  had  taken  two 
Austrian  cannon  at  Roveredo  with  six  men,  was 
entrusted  with  the  command  of  the  bodyguard 
and  made  responsible  for  the  life  of  the  general. 
As  Marshal  and  Count  of  Istria,  he  commanded 
the  Guard  until  1812. 

At  once  the  men  came  into  prominence  who 
were  to  share  Napoleon's  glory  afterwards.  But 
not  one  of  his  later  wars  has  so  much  brilliancy- 
one  might  almost  say,  so  much  festive  cheer- 
fulness— about  it  as  the  first  two  campaigns  in 
Italy.  It  was,  of  course,  a  matter  of  life  and 
death ;  the  balls  were  as  merciless  as  ever, 
when  they  did  strike.  But  the  operations  went 
on  more  smoothly  there.  One  saw  the  enemy 
working  away  with  his  ramrods,  biting  off  the 
end  of  his  cartridges,  shaking  his  powder  on  the 
pan,  and  then  the  long  aim  and  the  shot  so  often 
miscarrying,  especially  in  bad  weather.  The 
artillery  did  not  hold  off  at  a  distance  ;  you  were 
not  apt  to  be  scattered  with  a  hail  of  shells  as 
happens  to-day. 


22  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

During  a  fight  near  Frankfort  in  1791, 
Frederic  William  sat  on  his  horse  and  watched 
a  republican  grenadier  holding  a  small  bridge 
alone  against  the  troops.  The  king  had  him  taken 
alive,  and  said  to  him  :  '  You  are  a  brave  lad,  it's 
a  pity  you  fight  for  a  bad  cause.'  '  Citizen 
William,'  the  soldier  answered,  '  we  should  not 
agree  on  that  point.  We  had  better  change  the 
subject.' 

It  was  especially  in  Italy  that  the  war  had 
peculiar  features,  because  the  French  officers 
were  young  and  fearless.  They  bewildered  and 
bluffed  the  methodical  Austrians,  and  frightened 
the  more  timid  Italians  to  death.  Bonaparte 
himself,  the  chief  general,  set  them  an  example. 
Once,  accompanied  by  only  a  few  soldiers,  in 
addition  to  his  general  staff  and  a  number  of 
officers,  he  rode  through  a  small  town  named 
Lonato,  on  the  day  before  the  battle  of  Castiglione. 
The  town  was  suddenly  surrounded  by  a  strong 
division  of  the  Austrians,  whose  leader  sent  an 
officer  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  French. 

Bonaparte  had  the  man  blindfolded,  as  was 
customary,  and  brought  into  the  circle  of  high 
officers.  When  the  bandage  was  taken  from  his 
eyes,  and  he  looked  round  on  the  brilliant  company, 
Bonaparte  thundered  at  him :  c  Ride  back  to 
your  chief,  and  tell  him  that  I  give  him  eight 
minutes  to  lay  down  his  arms  !  He  has  got  into 
the  midst  of  the  French  army,  and  he  may  give 
up  all  hope  once  that  time  is  up.'  The  officer 
hurried  away,  and  the  Austrian  general  was  so, 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  23 

terrified  that  he  surrendered  with  2,000  men  and 
four  guns. 

Another  time,  in  the  year  1796,  Lannes,  then 
a  young  chief  of  a  battalion,  came  upon  a  division 
of  the  papal  cavalry,  300  strong,  in  the  course  of 
a  reconnaisance.  Lannes  himself  had  only  two 
or  three  officers  and  a  dozen  orderlies  with  him. 
Lannes  rode  at  once  to  the  papal  officer,  who  had 
already  ordered  his  men  to  fire  and  attack. 

*  What  are  you  doing  ?'  Lannes  shouted. 
'  Put  up  your  sabre  at  once.' 

'  Certainly,'  said  the  officer. 

6  Tell  your  men  to  dismount  and  lead  their 
horses  to  my  headquarters.' 

'  Quite  so,'  answered  the  officer,  and  he 
obeyed. 

It  reminds  one  of  Tordenskjold,  when  he  was 
tired  of  lying  before  Marstrand  and  waiting  for 
the  Swedish  fleet  to  come  out.  At  last  he  went 
into  the  town  and  reached  the  house  where  the 
Swedish  admirals  were  chatting  and  drinking. 

'  What  the  devil  are  you  waiting  for  ?'  he 
shouted  through  the  window. 

So  the  Swedish  fleet  came  out  and  received 
its  punishment. 

The  Duke  of  Montebello  resembled  Torden- 
skjold in  many  ways.  He  was  recklessly  brave, 
always  in  the  line  of  fire,  yet  a  cool  and  diligent 
commander,  and  kept  his  head  in  the  most 
desperate  situations.  It  was  in  the  first  Italian 
campaign  that  Bonaparte  noticed  how  Lannes, 
who  was  then  chief  of  a  battalion,  led  his  men 


24  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

into  action  at  Dego.  From  that  day  they  were 
never  separated  until  Lannes  fell  in  1809  at 
Esslingen,  a  marshal  of  France  and  Duke  of 
Montebello.  He  was  the  last  of  all  generals  to 
maintain  the  old  terms  of  intercourse  with  the 
Emperor,  and  addressed  him  as  '  thou '  to  the 
end.  He  died  in  the  height  of  his  and  Napoleon's 
glory,  and  escaped  the  evil  days  that  tried  so 
many  of  his  comrades  and  found  them  wanting, 
or  at  least  leave  a  good  deal  of  obscurity  about 
Napoleon  in  the  end. 

Lannes  was  one  of  the  officers  who  were 
always  wounded,  which  is  hardly  surprising  when 
we  remember  the  boldness  with  which  he 
exposed  himself.  There  were  others  equally  daring, 
however,  who  were  said  by  the  soldiers  to  be 
invulnerable,  such  as  Massena.  It  was  said  of 
Lannes  that  balls  flattened  themselves  against  his 
bones.  During  the  campaign  in  Syria  he  received 
a  ball  in  the  temple  and  fell  to  the  ground.  They 
thought  he  was  dead.  But  it  was  found  that  the 
bullet  had  passed  round  the  skull  and  remained 
under  the  skin  at  the  back  of  the  head,  so  that 
it  was  easily  extracted.  During  the  battle  of 
Aboukir,  where  he  still  suffered  from  the  wound 
in  his  head,  he  got  a  bullet  at  short  range  in  the 
shin.  It  was  flattened,  and  ran  round  the  leg  and 
buried  itself  in  the  calf.  He  received  many  other 
wounds  in  the  course  of  time,  until  a  cannon  ball 
smashed  both  his  knees  at  Esslingen  in  1809. 

Lannes  was  also  one  of  those  who  were 
wounded  when  they  ran  on  the  bridge  with  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  25 

general  at  Lodi,  and  covered  him.  The  brave 
officer,  Muiron,  fell  dead  at  Napoleon's  feet  on 
the  bridge.  Muiron  was  one  of  the  officers  that 
Bonaparte  had  discovered,  and  who  was  likely  to 
accomplish  great  things  under  him.  To  the  end 
the  only  way  of  advancement  in  Napoleon's  army, 
however  large  it  became,  was  for  the  general 
himself  to  pick  out  the  best  officers  ;  and  of  that 
they  were  well  aware.  His  knowledge  of  men, 
extending  over  all  his  armies,  was  so  great  and 
accurate  that  he  was  as  well  acquainted  with  his 
officers  as  the  leader  of  a  small  troop  usually  is 
with  his  men.  He  had,  moreover,  an  eye  for  the 
characteristics  of  each  individual,  and  he  was 
rarely  wrong  in  his  estimate. 

During  one  of  the  Italian  campaigns,  on  the 
eve  of  a  great  battle,  a  common  soldier  stepped 
out  of  the  line,  as  they  often  did,  with  the  old 
republican  liberty,  and  said :  *  Citizen  general, 
I  know  how  you  will  beat  them  to-morrow,'  and 
he  began  to  describe  a  plan  of  operations. 
Napoleon  swiftly  interrupted  him  :  *  Be  quiet,  you 
scoundrel.'  The  soldier  was  describing,  word  for 
word,  Napoleon's  own  plan  of  battle,  which  he 
thought  was  utterly  unsuspected  by  anybody 
else.  The  day  after  the  battle  he  sent  for  the 
soldier — he  had  noted  his  regiment — but  found 
that  the  great  talent  had  perished  in  the  simple 
uniform  of  a  soldier,  and  he  had  probably  lost  a 
marshal. 

When  the  supreme  command  was  entrusted 
to  the  twenty-seven  year  old  officer  there  were 


26  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

old  and  experienced  generals  and  officers  who  had 
little  disposition  to  bow  to  their  new  leader. 
Augereau,  who  was  twelve  years  older,  made  a 
great  noise,  and  said  he  was  not  going  to  have  this 
raw  lad  from  Corsica  put  over  him.  He  soon 
changed  his  mind,  and,  although  Augereau  was 
never  anything  else  in  Napoleon's  opinion  than  a 
brave  and  noisy  swaggerer  and  incorrigible 
plunderer,  he  became  a  marshal  and  Duke  of 
Castiglione,  and  was  always  with  Napoleon  until 
he  finally  deserted  him. 

Napoleon  never  had  favourites  that  he  would 
put  in  high  positions  in  spite  of  their  incompetence ; 
and  he  was  just  as  careful  to  appreciate  and  use 
men  he  did  not  like  and  whose  treachery  was  fully 
known  to  him  through  his  spies. 

Others  of  Napoleon's  men  came  into  promi- 
nence in  1796.  Berthier,  who  had  been  in 
America  and  Jamaica  with  Lafayette,  and  had 
received  a  command  under  the  aged  Kellermann, 
the  victor  of  Valmy,  was  one  of  Napoleon's 
generals,  and  a  particularly  intimate  friend.  He 
was  with  Napoleon  in  the  Egyptian  campaign, 
but  was  allowed  to  return  home  on  the  ground  of 
illness  ;  though  the  real  reason  was  his  infatuation 
for  Mme.  Visconti.  The  indefatigable  and  fearless 
Oudinot,  also,  who  lived  until  1847,  was  with  him 
in  Italy.  Under  Napoleon  he  became  marshal 
and  Duke  of  Reggio.  He  always  led  the  grenadiers 
who  marched  close  to  the  Emperor ;  and  he  led 
the  infantry  in  the  early  bayonet  fights.  The 
soldiers  were  accustomed  to  seeing  him  amongst 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  27 

them.  He  was  one  of  those  who  were  always 
wounded ;  he  had  in  the  end,  I  believe,  twenty- 
three  wounds. 

Besides  the  unfortunate  Muiron,  General  La 
Harpe  also  fell  in  the  first  Italian  campaign, 
being  shot  in  mistake  by  his  own  men.  Another 
loss  was  that  of  General  Steingel,  an  Alsatian, 
whom  Bonaparte  always  quoted  afterwards  as 
an  incomparable  leader  of  the  advanced  posts. 
Steingel  was  short-sighted,  and  rushed  into  the 
fight  at  Mondovi  so  furiously  with  his  hussars 
that  he  was  slain  by  a  sabre-cut,  fighting  in  the 
front  line  like  a  common  soldier. 

The  aged  General  Causse  saved  the  battle  at 
Dego,  but  fell  mortally  wounded.  He  called  for 
Bonaparte  and  learned  that  the  battle  was  won. 
The  old  general  nodded  to  the  young  one,  and  died 
with  the  words  :  '  Long  live  the  Republic.' 

When  Napoleon  lay  dying  at  St.  Helena,  they 
heard  him  call  out,  just  before  the  end  :  '  Steingel ! 
Desaix  !  Massena  !  On  them  !  We  have  them 
now.'  He  saw  once  more  the  forms  of  the  generals 
of  his  young  days. 

The  brave  and  neatly-equipped  Austrians, 
retreating  from  point  to  point  in  their  white 
uniforms,  and  looking  so  handsome  in  their  powder 
and  pigtails,  deserved  a  better  fate.  But  their 
antiquated  methods  could  not  resist  the  new 
French  ones,  and  they  had  too  many  leaders  who 
were  too  aged  for  effective  service.  Beaulieu  was 
eighty  years  old.  Wurmser,  who  had  beaten  the 
republican  forces  at  Weissenburg,  Heidelberg, 


28  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

and  in  the  Palatinate,  was  an  old  man ;  so  was 
Melas.  Their  best  general  was  Alvinczy.  In 
these  stiff  troops  with  their  aged  generals,  swept 
out  of  the  field  by  the  fiery  French  armies,  we 
see  involuntarily  something  of  the  ridiculous,  as 
generally  happens  when  the  older  fall  before  the 
younger.  At  the  same  time  there  was  a  certain 
politeness  maintained  between  the  enemies,  some- 
thing of  the  chivalry  that  always  moderates  the 
horrors  of  war,  though  in  the  new  and  terrible 
forms  of  warfare  we  see  less  of  it  every  century. 
When  the  aged  Wurmser  was  compelled  at  length 
by  famine  to  surrender  Mantua,  Bonaparte,  who 
was  in  command,  sent  the  comparatively  aged 
General  Serrurier  to  receive  the  capitulation,  so 
as  to  spare  Wurmser  the  shame  of  giving  up  his 
sword  to  a  young  man  of  twenty-seven. 

Before  the  peace  of  Campo  Formio,  Bonaparte 
and  Josephine  held  a  sort  of  small  court  in  the 
chateau  of  Montebello.  From  the  moment  when  he 
first  set  foot  on  the  soil  of  Austria  his  whole  being 
instinctively  assumed  a  character  that  made  it 
plain  that  he  had  a  far  higher  aim  hi  view  than 
any  other  French  general  had  ever  had.  His 
companions  noticed  with  regret  the  departure 
from  the  easy  ways  that  had  hitherto  prevailed  in 
the  armies  of  the  Republic. 

The  chateau  of  Montebello  received  ministers 
from  Vienna  and  from  the  king  of  Naples,  envoys 
from  the  papacy,  the  Republics  of  Genoa  and 
Venice,  the  Duke  of  Parma,  the  Swiss  cantons, 
and  a  number  of  German  princes.  The  house 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  29 

almost  looked  like  a  royal  residence.  Apparently 
without  any  change  in  his  manner  the  young 
Bonaparte  took  his  place  with  his  usual  seriousness 
and  coldness,  and  the  whole  of  those  present — 
probably  without  noticing  it — fell  into  the  position 
that  was  to  be  taken  up  for  many  years  to  come  ; 
Napoleon  alone  in  the  centre  and  all  the  others 
in  a  circle  round  him.  The  finest  diplomatists  of 
Vienna  came  and  tried  their  hand  on  him.  There 
was  nothing  that  he  did  not  understand,  not  a 
manoeuvre  that  he  did  not  see  through,  and 
certainly  nothing  under  the  sun  that  could  daunt 
him. 

On  the  other  hand — not  in  anger,  but  quite 
coolly  and  deliberately,  aiming  to  make  an 
impression  on  the  elderly  diplomats — he  took  up 
the  costly  Chinese  tea-service  that  the  envoy 
Cobentzl  had  received  from  Catherine  II,  and 
threw  it  on  the  ground.  '  That's  how  I'll  smash 
Austria,'  he  said,  and  swept  out  of  the  room  like 
a  hurricane.  They  hurried  after  him,  and  brought 
the  treaty  ready  signed,  just  as  he  had  wanted 
them  to  do. 

It  was  at  this  time  he  began  to  issue  his 
grandiose  proclamations  to  his  soldiers.  They 
are  said  to  have  had  a  considerable  effect.  For 
my  part  I  have  always  found  them  too  lengthy 
and  affected,  and  I  cannot  endure  the  style  of 
them. 

Bonaparte  himself  delivered  the  abstract  of 
the  peace  of  Campo  Formio  to  the  Directorate, 
and  Paris  gave  him  and  Josephine  a  series  of 


30  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

festivities.  The  finest  was,  of  course,  that  given 
by  Talleyrand,  who  was  foreign  minister  of  the 
Republic  at  the  time.  Art  and  science  came  to 
do  him  homage.  David  painted  him,  and  the 
famous  artist,  Grassini,  whom  he  had  brought 
from  Italy,  sang  before  him. 

But  France  soon  learned  that  there  were 
30,000  men  and  10,000  sailors  gathered  in  the 
Mediterranean  harbours,  and  that  vast  prepara- 
tions were  in  progress  at  Toulon.  The  best 
generals  and  a  number  of  scholars  were  to  take 
part  in  the  mysterious  campaign.  It  was  the 
celebrated  adventure  in  Egypt,  of  which,  to  be 
quite  candid,  I  have  never  really  understood  the 
meaning.  If  it  had  succeeded,  we  might  have 
seen  how  deadly  a  blow  it  would  have  been  to 
England.  As  things  were,  it  has  remained  quite 
obscure,  in  my  opinion,  and  the  campaign  failed 
altogether. 

On  June  9th,  1798,  the  French  fleet  lay  before 
Malta.  Five  hundred  vessels  came  in  sight,  and 
so  terrified  the  Grand  Master,  that,  after  a  few 
days  negotiations  and  a  few  harmless  cannon-shots, 
he  surrendered  the  island  to  the  French.  What 
had  happened  was  that  the  Grand  Master  of  the 
Knights  of  Malta,  a  German  named  Hompesch, 
received  600,000  francs  and  the  promise  of  a 
yearly  pension  of  300,000  francs.  With  that  he 
retired  into  private  life.  The  chief  harbour  of 
Malta,  Valetta,  had  always  been  regarded  as 
absolutely  impregnable.  When  the  French  officers 
came  on  land  after  the  capitulation  and  examined 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS     31 

the  fortifications,  one  of  them  said :  '  It  was 
lucky  for  us  there  were  people  in  there  to 
open  it  for  us ;  otherwise  we  should  never  have 
got  in.' 

Bonaparte's  rare  good  fortune  went  with  him 
on  his  Mediterranean  voyage  and  brought  him 
safely  home  from  Egypt.  Nelson  crossed  his 
track  below  Malta.  He  was  three  days  in 
Alexandria  before  the  French  fleet  arrived,  and 
then  he  had  put  to  sea  again  in  search  of  Bonaparte. 
Hence  the  French  army  landed  in  safety,  and  the 
struggle  began.  After  Napoleon's  entry  into 
Cairo  on  July  25th,  he  met  his  first  mishap,  the 
first  and  most  decisive  blow  to  his  expedition. 
He  heard  that  the  French  fleet  was  destroyed  on 
August  1st  in  the  Bay  of  Aboukir.  Nelson  had 
found  them  at  last,  and  though  the  French 
admiral  was  brave  and  made  a  good  fight,  the  fate 
of  any  fleet  was  sealed  when  it  met  Nelson,  as 
surely  as  the  fate  of  an  army  that  encountered 
Bonaparte.  It  was  the  weakest  point  in  the 
whole  plan  to  suppose  that  a  French  fleet  could 
hold  its  own  in  the  Mediterranean  as  long  as 
Nelson  was  about. 

After  the  expedition  into  Syria  and  the 
failure  of  the  storming  of  St.  Jean  d' Acre,  Napoleon 
received  the  journals  from  home  at  Cairo,  and 
decided  to  return  to  France.  He  left  behind  him 
a  letter  to  General  Kleber,  in  which  he  put  him  in 
supreme  command  of  the  army  in  Egypt  with  a 
mass  of  instructions.  Then  he  rode  down  to  the 
coast  secretly  with  a  chosen  few.  They  embarked 


32  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

on  two  frigates,  and  by  some  means  or  other 
reached  Frejus,  in  the  south  of  France,  on  October 
9th,  1799,  without  meeting  a  single  one  of  Nelson's 
ships,  which  were  scouring  the  Mediterranean  and 
descending  on  everything  that  passed. 

The  Egyptian  campaign  has  a  certain 
resemblance,  on  a  much  smaller  scale,  to  the 
Russian  campaign  of  1812.  Both  of  them  failed, 
and  this  was  partly  due  to  the  same  lack  of 
knowledge  of  the  land,  the  people,  and  the  climate. 
From  both  the  leader  returned  home,  and  left  his 
followers  in  distress.  It  was  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  officers  and  soldiers  thought,  when 
they  heard  of  the  general's  return,  that  he  had 
shamefully  betrayed  them,  and  left  them  in  the 
Egyptian  desert ;  just  as,  on  the  morning  of 
December  5th,  1812,  the  Emperor's  generals 
murmured  against  him,  when  it  was  known  that 
he  had  departed  for  France  during  the  night, 
abandoning  what  remained  of  the  grand  army  to 
the  cold  and  the  Cossacks. 

The  qualities  and  sentiments  of  solidarity  and 
concern  that  engender  in  the  good  citizen  the 
mutual  feeling  that  sustains  domestic  and  public 
life  were  quite  foreign  to  Bonaparte's  nature.  He 
assuredly  never  made  any  personal  sacrifice  for 
others  or  for  the  common  good.  What  he  gave 
never  had  the  character  of  a  sacrifice,  but  came 
of  the  splendid  generosity  that  distinguishes  the 
lofty  prince.  Had  anyone  expected  him  to  remain 
on  the  wreck  when  things  had  gone  wrong,  he 
would  have  called  it  the  stupid  notion  of  an  idealist. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  33 

He  never  had  any  other  scheme  of  action  than 
completely  to  realise  his  aim ;  and  this  was  so 
great  that  he  had  no  time  to  think  of  others. 

The  campaign  in  Egypt  was  not  lit  by  the 
sunshine  of  Italy.  The  heated  air,  the  thirst,  and 
the  plague,  followed  it  everywhere ;  and  the 
shadow  of  such  deeds  as  the  massacre  at  Jaffa, 
where  he  had  several  thousand  prisoners  of  war 
shot  because  there  was  no  food  for  them,  and  of 
the  charge  of  having  given  opium  to  a  large 
number  of  pest-stricken  French  soldiers,  so  that 
they  might  not  fall  alive  into  the  hand  of  the 
enemy  when  the  army  left  Syria,  was  cast  over 
the  figure  of  the  young  general. 

However,  in  the  famous  battle  of  the  pyramids 
and  in  the  land-battle  at  Aboukir,  a  fresh  splendour 
was  added  to  the  names  of  many  of  Napoleon's 
greatest  generals — Junot,  Rapp,  Lannes,  Davoust, 
and  especially  K16ber  and  Desaix,  who  remained 
in  Egypt,  K16ber  was  a  brave  general,  and  a 
big,  handsome  man.  He  soon  concluded  that 
Napoleon's  large  and  vague  plan  of  holding  and 
colonising  Egypt  could  not  be  realised,  and  he 
opened  negotiations  with  the  English  admiral. 
In  these  he  succeeded  in  securing  a  free  passage 
home  for  the  French,  but  the  English  government 
insisted  that  the  French  troops  should  be  con- 
sidered prisoners  of  war.  Kleber  would  not  agree 
to  this,  and  he  re-conquered  the  whole  of  Egypt. 
Meantime  General  Desaix  had,  almost  from  the 
beginning  of  the  expedition,  penetrated  to  upper 
Egypt,  where  he  had  not  only  conquered  the 


34  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

whole  country  with  great  heroism,  but  had 
conducted  the  administration  so  skilfully  as  to 
win  the  affection  of  the  half-savage  inhabitants, 
who  called  him  'the  wise  Sultan.'  They  called 
Bonaparte  '  the  lord  of  fire.' 

On  July  14th,  1800,  Kleber  was  assassinated 
on  the  streets  of  Cairo  by  an  Arabian  fanatic,  and 
Desaix  was  killed  at  the  same  time  by  a  cannon 
ball  on  the  plain  of  Marengo,  where  he  just 
arrived  in  time  to  secure  the  victory  of  Napoleon. 
General  Menou  was  appointed  to  the  chief 
command  in  Egypt,  but  he  was  still  less  able  to 
hold  together  the  impossible  colony,  constantly 
assailed  as  it  was  by  the  English.  Menou  was 
in  his  fiftieth  year,  and  therefore  one  of  the  oldest 
of  Napoleon's  generals.  He  quarrelled  with  his 
officers,  and  made  himself  ridiculous  in  the  eyes 
of  the  army  by  wearing  the  dress  of  an  Arab. 
He  married  a  young  Egyptian  and  lived  on 
oriental  lines.  Napoleon  always  treated  him  well, 
and  he  died  as  governor  of  Venice  in  1810,  it  is 
said,  out  of  love  of  a  young  actress.  In  his 
hands  the  Egyptian  expedition  came  to  a  disastrous 
close,  and  the  last  of  the  French  troops  were 
brought  home  in  English  ships,  though  not  as 
prisoners  of  war. 

During  the  year  of  Bonaparte's  absence  in 
Egypt,  the  French  Republic  and  the  French  arms 
met  with  serious  reverses.  He  learned  this  from 
the  journals  that  the  English  allowed  to  reach 
him  in  Egypt.  No  sooner  did  he  land  on  French 
soil  than  the  cry  went  up  that  he  alone  could 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS     35 

save  the  country,  and  he  was  hailed  everywhere 
as  the  deliverer.  His  unfortunate  expedition 
was  at  once  forgotten.  The  moment  he  landed 
he  was  met  with  every  sign  of  rejoicing,  and  the 
feeling  ran  to  enthusiastic  heights  as  he  made 
his  way  from  town  to  town,  making  a  triumphal 
march  of  his  journey  to  Paris.  He  vigorously 
thrust  out  of  sight  the  failure  of  his  late  campaign, 
and  made  even  larger  plans  than  when  he  had 
returned  from  the  subjugation  of  Italy.  But  the 
young  and  suspicious  general  was  not  yet  the 
man  to  be  led  away  by  illusions.  At  Paris, 
where  the  whole  world  sought  him,  he  maintained 
a  great  reserve.  He  hardly  showed  himself  at 
the  magnificent  official  festivities  or  in  the  theatres. 
But  he  worked  and  intrigued  secretly  against 
the  constitution  of  the  country  with  no  scruple, 
and  firmly  determined  to  introduce  into  politics 
the  strongest  element  of  the  time — the  army, 
which  in  turn  meant  himself. 

The  first  person  to  be  associated  with  him 
in  his  secret  work  was,  of  course,  Citizen  Talleyrand, 
who  was  not  a  minister  at  the  time.  He  was 
quite  ready  to  put  himself  at  the  disposal  of  the 
new  rising  force.  In  1799  the  Republican 
government  consisted  of  five  Directors,  who  were 
held  in  no  esteem,  and  of  the  Legislative  Assembly. 
Bonaparte  did  not  want  a  revolution,  but  a 
coup  d'etat,  without  conflict  or  bloodshed.  The 
Legislative  Assembly  was  sent  out  to  St.  Cloud, 
far  away  from  Paris,  and  Bonaparte  coolly 
determined  to  dissolve  it  by  force,  and  substitute 


36  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

for  it  other  forms  that  would  prepare  the  way 
for  him. 

His  assistants  and  fellow-conspirators  were  a 
number  of  men  that  had  gathered  about  him, 
and  were  to  be  the  first  generals  and  statesmen 
in  Europe.  Up  to  that  time  they  had  been 
merely  young  officers,  and  they  took  up  the 
political  manoeuvre,  at  the  general's  order,  much 
as  they  would  have  done  a  cavalry  attack.  Chief 
amongst  them  were  his  near  relative  Murat, 
Leclerc  (who  was  married  to  Pauline),  Sebastiani 
of  Corsica,  Lannes,  Berthier,  and  Moreau.  Berna- 
dotte  held  back,  and  only  made  his  appear- 
ance when  the  manoeuvre  had  succeeded.  Lucien, 
the  President  of  the  Council  ofjthe  Five  Hundred, 
made  himself  very  useful ;  it  was  the  only  help 
Napoleon  ever  got  from  one  of  his  brothers. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  November  9th,  1799 
—the  famous  *  18|Brumaire '  according  to  the 
Republican  calendar — the  troops  began  to  stir  in 
the  barracks.  General  Lefebvre,  in  chief  command 
at  Paris,  at  once  scented  a  conspiracy.  He 
drove  down  to  make  an  inquiry,  met  Colonel 
Sebastiani,  and  asked  him  sharply  what  he  was 
doing  at  that  hour  with  his  men.  *  General 
Bonaparte  wants  to  speak  to  you,'  Sebastiani 
answered.  The  street  was  so  narrow  that 
Lefebvre's  carriage  could  not  turn  round,  and  so 
he  went  on  to  Bonaparte's  hotel.  The  general 
met  him  with  the  words  :  '  You  are  one  of  the 
props  of  the  Republic,  General  Lefebvre  !  You 
and  I  will  to-day  deliver  France  from  the  hands 
of  these  miserable  lawyers.' 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  37 

'  Down  with  the  lawyers,'  Lefebvre  replied. 
*  I  am  with  you.'  And  he  forthwith  allied  himself 
to  Napoleon. 

When  Bonaparte  entered  the  chamber  of  the 
Five  Hundred  he  was  greeted  with  a  loud  outcry 
about  tyrants.  The  members  crowded  about 
him  with  violent  gestures,  and  the  grenadiers 
began  to  be  concerned  for  their  little  corporal. 
Murat  then  ordered  the  room  to  be  cleared,  and 
it  was  done  so  quickly  that  many  of  the  delegates 
of  the  people  had  to  leap  out  of  the  windows. 
They  were  meeting  in  the  orangery,  so  that  the 
leap  was  not  very  dangerous ;  but  it  was  an  act 
of  political  violence  that  many  never  forgave 
Napoleon. 

In  the  first  ministry  that  Napoleon  formed 
as  First  Consul — there  were  three  Consuls,  but  no 
one  took  any  notice  of  the  other  two — Talleyrand 
was  to  be  Foreign  Minister,  though  the  place  was 
held  for  a  time  by  a  German,  Count  Reinhardt, 
who  was  often  used  by  Napoleon  in  administrative 
and  diplomatic  capacities.  The  Minister  of  Police 
was  Fouche,  whom  Napoleon  seemed  never  able 
to  dispense  with,  though  he  saw  through  his 
knavery  and  often  had  experience  of  his  duplicity 
afterwards.  In  spite  of  the  resemblance  it  would 
be  most  unjust  to  put  Talleyrand  and  Fouche  on 
the  same  footing.  Talleyrand  was  like  the 
finest  kid,  while  Fouche  was  common  fox-skin. 
Talleyrand  passed  with  some  subtlety  from  one 
party  to  another,  but  Fouch6  sold  and  betrayed 
one  to  the  other,  and  lived  on  and  for  deceit, 


38  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

hated  and  despised  by  all.  Napoleon  deposed  and 
re-instated  him  ;  he  made  him  Duke  of  Otranto, 
and  was  often  in  a  rage  with  him  ;  but  he  could 
not  live  without  the  network  of  spies  that  Fouche 
could  best  spread  about  him.  Indeed,  there  was 
no  one  else  that  he  could  use  so  readily  for  the 
meanest  offices. 

In  the  four  years  of  the  Consulate,  which 
were  certainly  the  happiest  years  of  Bonaparte's 
life,  France  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the 
Revolution.  The  unquenchable  vigour  with 
which  the  nation  always  rises  again  when  the 
storm  is  over  brought  out  a  new  and  energetic 
society ;  and  certain  forces  at  once  became 
active  in  it  that  centred  about  the  person  of  the 
one  great  man,  under  the  very  mantle  of  the  new 
found  liberty,  and  raised  him  high  above  the 
citizens  of  the  Republic.  And  his  immense  plans 
developed  and  found  embodiment  with  a  gigantic 
power  that  created  afresh  everything  that  it 
touched.  In  these  mighty  hands  France  was 
transformed  immediately.  The  First  Consul 
betook  himself  to  the  palace  of  the  older  kings, 
and  the  citizens  were  subdued.  When  he  passed 
from  the  Luxembourg  palace  to  the  Tuileries  and 
the  Louvre  on  the  other  bank  of  the  Seine,  it  was 
with  all  the  pomp  of  a  royal  ceremony.  The 
familiar  tone  of  the  Revolution  disappeared  in  a 
few  days.  The  republican  forms  of  social  life 
were  chilled  in  the  cold  court  atmosphere  that  at 
once  began  to  fill  the  halls  of  the  Tuileries.  People 
ceased  to  call  each  other  citizen  and  citizeness, 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  39 

and  began  to  cut  their  hair  and  wear  decorative 
costumes.  No  change  ever  proceeded  so  rapidly 
as  this. 

The  Republic  was  recognised  by  all  the 
European  powers  except  England.  Peace  reigned 
in  some  sort,  and  it  only  remained  to  conciliate 
England.  Bonaparte,  who  then  and  throughout 
his  whole  career  was  far  from  understanding 
England  and  English  ways,  wrote  a  personal  letter 
to  George  the  Third,  in  which  he  suggested  a 
rapprochement  between  the  two  great  nations. 
The  answer  came,  drily  enough,  in  the  form  of  a 
declaration  made  by  Pitt  in  Parliament :  '  England 
will  not  subscribe  to  the  peace  until  France  has 
returned  within  its  earlier  frontiers.'  It  clung 
rigorously  to  this  determination  never  to  treat 
with  Napoleon  under  any  circumstances.  This 
meant  that  there  was  to  be  war  in  Europe  as  long 
as  Napoleon  retained  power. 

In  France  there  was  great  rejoicing  at  the 
termination  of  the  terrors  of  the  Revolution. 
Many  of  the  emigrants  returned,  prisoners  were 
set  at  liberty,  and  the  sentence  of  banishment 
was  annulled.  Social  and  commercial  life  received 
an  unprecedented  *  impulse  under  the  wise  legis- 
lation and  practical  aids  that  were  now  given. 

England  was  the  first  to  feel  the  fire  of  war 
that  Bonaparte  set  aflame.  Every  time  that  a 
country  was  beaten,  England  came  to  it  with 
fresh  money  and  fresh  proposals  for  a  coalition. 
The  first  coalition  was  originally  an  alliance 
of  Austria,  Bavaria,  Turkey,  Russia,  Sweden, 


40  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Denmark,  and  England,  the  latter  Power  main- 
taining fleets  both  in  the  North  Sea  and  the 
Mediterranean  for  the  attack  on  France.  But  the 
First  Consul  found  a  means  of  drawing  Russia 
out  of  the  coalition.  Since  the  wars  of  the 
Republic  there  were  a  number  of  Russian  prisoners 
in  France  and  in  the  frontier  fortresses.  Napoleon 
equipped  them  all  with  Russian  uniforms,  choosing 
the  correct  uniforms  and  ensigns  according  to 
the  rank  and  regiment  and  arm  of  each  prisoner. 
Then  he  sent  the  whole  of  them — many  hundreds 
in  number — comfortably  back  to  Russia  with  a 
greeting  to  the  Emperor,  Paul  I,  without  saying 
a  word  about  the  return  of  French  prisoners  of 
war.  This  was,  perhaps,  the  only  occasion  on  which 
Napoleon's  calculation  was  correct  when  he  tried 
to  treat  the  other  European  princes  as  comrades. 
The  half-demented  Paul  was  caught  by  the 
stratagem,  and  became  a  fanatical  admirer  of 
Napoleon.  He  recalled  his  troops  from  Germany, 
left  the  coalition,  and  expelled  all  Englishmen 
from  St.  Petersburg.  The  First  Consul  also  sent 
his  friend  and  confidant,  Duroc,  afterwards  Duke 
of  Friaul,  as  envoy  to  Berlin,  and  in  a  very  brief 
time  he  succeeded  in  embroiling  the  coalition  to 
such  an  extent  that  he  could  himself  lead  his 
troops  across  the  Alps  to  the  liberation  of  Italy, 
which  had  been  taken  again  by  the  Austrians 
while  he  was  in  Egypt. 

Austria,  if  not  the  whole  of  Europe,  was 
astounded  when  Bonaparte's  generals  crossed  the 
Alps  with  all  their  artillery  and  baggage,  and 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  41 

marched  down  upon  the  plains  in  the  north  of 
Italy.  He  himself  stood  before  the  gates  of  Milan 
on  June  2nd  (1800)  as  Italy's  deliverer.  The 
Italians  were  beside  themselves  with  joy  at  seeing 
him  once  more ;  he  was  reported  to  have  died 
in  Egypt.  The  second  Italian  campaign  thus 
succeeded  more  brilliantly  than  the  first.  The 
same  sun  shone  on  the  French  troops ;  but  they 
were  now  the  finest  soldiers  that  Europe  had  ever 
seen,  not  the  ragged  and  shoeless  bands  of  the 
Republic. 

At  the  beginning  of  a  campaign,  Napoleon,  espe- 
cially in  his  earlier  and  more  slender  years,  used  to 
spread  his  maps  on  the  ground,  and  crawl  over 
them,  and  work  his  plans  with  coloured  needles. 
The  friend  of  his  youth,  Bourrienne,  who  was  his 
private  secretary  in  the  early  years,  has  related 
that.  Napoleon  had  fixed  his  needles  round  the 
plains  of  Marengo  before  he  left  Paris,  and  said 
that  he  would  fight  the  Austrians  there.  With 
the  divisions  of  Lannes,  Victor,  and  Desaix,  he 
marched  on  the  village  of  Marengo  on  July  13th 
in  search  of  the  chief  Austrian  army  under  General 
Melas.  He  had,  however,  commanded  Desaix 
to  take  a  different  route  on  the  following  day,  as 
he  was  uncertain  where  he  would  find  the  enemy. 
Early  the  next  morning,  the  famous  July  14th, 
1800,  Bonaparte  suddenly  confronted  the  far 
superior  numbers  of  the  Austrian  army,  and  the 
battle  began  at  once.  He  sent  most  pressing 
messages  to  Desaix,  but  he  knew  that  it  would 
be  several  hours  before  Desaix's  division  could 
join  him  in  the  conflict. 


42  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

The  battle  began  with  the  taking  of  the 
village  of  Marengo  by  the  Austrians  and  the 
scattering  of  Victor's  division.  Bonaparte,  who 
knew  well  that  the  issue  depended  on  Desaix's 
arrival,  made  strenuous  efforts  to  hold  his  ground 
to  some  extent  with  the  left  wing ;  the  right 
wing  and  the  centre  retreated  during  the  whole 
morning,  and  were  driven  from  one  position 
to  another  by  the  more  numerous  Austrians. 
Napoleon  followed  them,  and  when  the  corps  that 
he  was  with  had  retired  some  distance,  ho  halted 
and  cried  to  the  general  of  the  division :  '  That 
will  do,  general.  Now  we'll  fight  again  for  a 
little.'  x 

Thus  matters  went  on  until  three  in  the 
afternoon,  and  everybody  but  Bonaparte  looked 
upon  the  fight  as  hopelessly  lost.  The  aged 
Melas,  overcome  with  fatigue,  and  injured  by  a 
fall  from  his  horse,  was  now  so  sure  of  victory 
that  he  left  the  field,  and  went  back  across  the 
Bormida.  He  at  once  sent  couriers  from  Allessan- 
dria  to  Vienna  to  say  that  he  had  gained  a  decisive 
victory  at  Marengo.  He  left  it  to  General  Zack 
to  follow  up  the  defeated  Bonaparte.  It  was 
now  five  o'clock.  Bonaparte  did  not  give  up 
hope.  He  led  the  retreat,  and  kept  his  fine 
troops  together  so  well  that  the  retreat  nowhere 
degenerated  into  flight. 

At  last  Desaix  galloped  up  with  several 
adjutants.  He  had  just  returned  from  Egypt, 
and  hurried  with  all  speed  to  his  friend  Bonaparte. 
They  were  the  best  leaders  at  the  time,  in  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  43 

eyes  of  the  troops.  He  hod  impatiently  ridden 
ahead  of  his  troops  when  he  reached  the  field, 
and  he  and  Bonaparte  were  soon  agreed  that  as 
matters  stood,  the  battle  was  lost.  '  Let  us  get 
down  from  our  horses,'  Desaix  said  to  him,  '  and 
it  will  look  as  if  we  were  more  confident.'  They 
did  so,  and  together  watched  the  battle  they  were 
conducting,  and  that  meant  so  much  for  their 
country.  The  two  men  were  still  almost  at 
the  age  when  we  are  usually  taken  up  with 
examinations,  and  shivering  before  dry  and  dusty 
professors.  It  is  said  that  Desaix  remarked : 
'  The  balls  don't  know  me  since  I  have  been  in 
Egypt.'  French  officers  had  a  peculiar  way  of 
speaking  when  they  were  confronted  with  death, 
or  their  own  presentiments  of  it.  Desaix's  words 
were  regarded  by  everybody  as  a  proof  that  he 
himself  felt  his  impending  fate.  At  length  the 
first  troops  of  Desaix's  division  swept  on  to  the 
plain.  The  two  generals  shook  hands  and  mounted 
their  horses.  Half  an  hour  afterwards  a  cannon 
ball  shattered  Desaix's  breast  and  killed  him  on 
the  spot. 

The  first  troops  of  Desaix's  corps  to  reach 
Marengo  and  avenge  his  death  belonged  to  General 
Boudet's  division.  In  all  the  great  battles,  and 
whenever  an  important  move  is  on,  we  find 
mention  of  this  division.  General  Boudet  was 
born  in  1769,  and  had  taken  Guadeloupe  in  1794. 
In  1807  he  defeated  the  Swedes  at  Stralsund,  and 
was  made  a  count.  He  received  large  donations 
of  land  in  Swedish  Pomerania,  and  was  besides 


44  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Knight  of  the  Danebrog,  and  received  the  Cross 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour.  His  men,  especially 
his  artillery,  were  models  for  the  whole  army. 

These  chosen  troops  came  up  at  the  last 
moment  and  put  spirit  into  the  half-demolished 
army.  All  weariness  was  forgotten,  and  confidence 
was  restored  in  the  little  man  on  the  white  horse 
whom  they  had  seen  in  a  kind  of  flight  all  day 
long.  He  cried  out  to  the  ranks  as  they  closed 
once  more  and  pressed  forward :  '  Remember, 
soldiers,  that  I  am  accustomed  to  sleep  on  the 
field  of  battle !'  General  Zack  had  opposed 
Boudet  with  5,000  good  grenadiers.  But,  just  at 
the  right  moment,  General  Kellermann  flung  his 
cavalry  on  the  Austrian  grenadiers,  who  were 
thrown  into  confusion  and  generally  taken 
prisoners.  From  that  point  the  French  on  the 
left  wing  advanced,  and  the  plain  was  re-taken 
before  evening.  The  general  was  able  to  sleep  in 
the  village  of  Marengo,  from  which  he  had  been 
driven  in  the  early  hours  of  the  morning.  In  the 
course  of  the  night  Berthier  concluded  an 
arrangement  with  Melas,  by  which  all  that  the 
French  had  lost  in  Italy  was  restored. 

During  the  last  hundred  years  it  has  often 
been  said  and  written  that  it  was  Desaix  and 
Kellermann  who  won  the  battle  of  Marengo.  In 
my  opinion  the  general  in  command  can  only  gain 
a  victory  when  his  officers  obey  his  orders,  keep 
their  places,  and  do  their  duty  at  the  proper  time. 
One  man  can  do  no  more  once  the  battle  has  begun. 
Bonaparte  won  at  Marengo  because  Desaix  and 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  45 

Kellermann  did  their  duty  according  to  his 
calculations ;  he  lost  the  battle  of  Waterloo 
because  Grouchy  did  not  do  his  duty,  and  was 
not  where  he  ought  to  have  been  according  to  the 
calculation  of  the  chief  commander. 

There  were  two  General  Kellermanns — father 
and  son — with  Napoleon.  The  elder  was  born  in 
1733  at  Baden,  and  lived  until  1820.  While  he 
was  a  republican  general  he  won  the  artillery 
battle  at  Valmy.  Napoleon  made  him  marshal 
and  Duke  of  Valmy,  and  often  employed  him  as 
commander  in  the  fortresses  where  the  young 
troops  were  trained.  His  son,  Count  of  Valmy, 
was  made  a  general  after  Marengo.  In  later  years 
he  generally  fought  against  the  English  in  Spain 
and  Portugal. 

It  is  difficult  to  realise  the  immense  effect  of 
the  battle  of  Marengo.  The  success  was  so 
unexpected  and  so  great  that  all  ranks  of  society 
and  all  parties  joined  in  the  common  rejoicings. 
Paris  was  at  once  illuminated  when  the  news 
arrived,  and  from  that  day  practically  the 
whole  of  the  government,  indeed  the  whole  of 
France  and  its  destiny,  was  given  into  the  hand 
of  Napoleon.  The  banished  king  wrote  the 
following  letter  to  him  : 

'  You  will  have  known  for  a  long  time,  general, 
in  what  esteem  I  hold  you.  Should  you  doubt 
my  gratitude,  I  beg  yougto  let  me  know  what 
position  you  desire  to  have,  and  where  you  desire 
your  friends  to  be  placed  in  the  State.  As  to  my 
principles,  I  am  a  Frenchman.  I  am  by  nature 


46  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

indulgent,  and  will  be  more  so  where  prudence 
dictates  that  quality.  The  victor  of  Lodi,  Castig- 
lione,  and  Arcole,  and  the  restorer  of  Italy,  cannot 
possibly  prefer  empty  fame  to  true  honour. 
Meantime,  you  are  wasting  valuable  time.  We 
two  could  secure  the  prosperity  of  France.  I  say, 
we  two,  because  I  need  Bonaparte,  and  because 
he  cannot  do  this  without  me.  General,  the  eyes 
of  Europe  are  upon  you.  Honour  is  waiting,  and 
I  am  impatient  to  restore  peace  to  my  country. 

Louis.' 
Bonaparte's  reply  was  dry  and  direct. 

4  SIB — I  have  received  your  letter  and  thank 
you  for  the  gracious  words  you  write  of  me.  But 
you  must  not  think  of  returning  to  France.  You 
would  have  to  walk  over  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  corpses.  If  you  will  make  the  sacrifice  of  your 
own  interests  for  the  peace  and  prosperity  of 
France,  history  will  thank  you.  I  am  not 
insensitive  to  the  misfortunes  of  your  family,  and 
I  will  gladly  contribute  to  your  tranquillity  and 
security  in  the  refuge  that  you  have  chosen. 

Bonaparte.' 

The  almost  naive  assumption  of  superiority 
must  have  made  a  great  impression  on  the 
Bourbons,  who  had  stooped  so  low  in  a  moment 
of  weakness.  Bonaparte  himself,  indeed,  was 
hardly  conscious  what  an  impression  of  audacity 
his  letter  would  give  to  people  whose  real  attitude 
toward  himself  he  never  completely  understood. 
But  in  the  shadow  of  the  shattered  kingdom,  and 
of  the  republic  that  had  collapsed  so  quickly, 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS     47 

there  were  figures  that  united  in  a  common  hatred 
of  the  man — a  determination  to  rid  the  world  of 
tyrants.  A  number  of  conspiracies  were  discovered 
from  time  to  time,  in  which  older  men  of  the 
revolutionary  days,  and  others  that  belonged  to 
the  king's  party,  were  involved.  Some  tried  to 
penetrate  into  Malmaison  in  assumed  uniforms  ; 
others  attempted  to  kill  him  as  he  went  to  the 
opera.  A  few  dangerous  workers  had  begun  to 
prepare  a  bomb,  but  when  they  came  to  test  the 
explosive,  the  effect  was  so  powerful  that  they 
became  half  afraid,  and  the  noise  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  police. 

However,  before  the  close  of  the  year  1800, 
one  of  these  murderous  plans  was  put  into  exe- 
cution and  made  a  great  impression  on  Paris.  It 
was  due  to  a  conspiracy  of  some  of  the  royalists, 
who  had,  with  extreme  calculation  and  cold- 
bloodedness, formed  a  plan  that  was  only  thwarted 
by  an  accident. 

On  Christmas  night  Bonaparte  and  Josephine 
were  to  hear  Haydn's  '  Creation '  at  the  Opera. 
It  was  a  special  performance  and  the  whole  of 
Paris  was  expected  to  be  there.  Shortly  before 
seven  a  couple  of  the  conspirators,  dressed  as 
working  men,  came  along  with  a  hand-cart,  on 
which  there  was  a  vessel  filled  with  powder  and 
balls.  They  left  the  cart  casually,  as  it  were,  in 
a  street  that  the  carriage  of  the  First  Consul 
had  to  pass.  The  time  was  accurately  calculated, 
and  the  fuse  lit.  Everybody  knew  that  Napoleon 
was  punctual.  But  it  happened  that  his  coachman 


48  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

was  rather  drunk  that  evening.  He  raced 
furiously  down  the  street,  and  was  past  the 
infernal  machine  two  or  three  seconds  before  it 
exploded.  Fifty-six  men  were  wounded  and 
twenty  -  two  killed,  and  several  houses  were 
demolished.  In  the  opera-house  people  had  just 
begun  to  whisper  of  an  attempt  on  the  First 
Consul's  life,  when  he  stepped  coolly  into  his  box, 
and  there  was  an  indescribable  outburst.  His 
wonderful  luck  made  him  seem  miraculous.  He 
was  the  chosen  one  of  Providence  in  the  eyes  of 
many,  and  the  attempt  on  his  life  lifted  him  to 
a  higher  pinnacle. 

But,  though  he  had  shown  his  customary 
coolness  during  the  catastrophe,  he  afterwards 
had  a  very  close  inquiry  made  into  the  source  of 
the  outrage,  which  clearly  was  no  isolated  crime. 
Fouch6,  either  to  conceal  his  ignorance  of  the 
plot,  or  out  of  a  grudge  against  his  old  enemies, 
gave  him  the  same  night  a  list  of  130  revolu- 
tionaries. Napoleon's  feeling  was  directed  rather 
against  the  royalists,  but  he  had  these  130 
individuals  sent  to  Cayenne,  after  forcing  through 
a  law  that  empowered  the  Consuls  to  banish 
undesirable  persons. 

On  February  12th,  1801,  Paris  heard  of  the 
Peace  of  Luneville,  which  was  the  fruit  of  Marengo 
and  of  Moreau's  equally  brilliant  victory  at 
Hohenlinden.  The  frontiers  of  France  were 
extended,  and  all  its  enemies  humiliated.  Thou- 
sands of  people  passed  by  the  Tuileries,  crying : 
'  Long  live  Bonaparte.'  They  danced  in  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS    49 

streets,  and  the  First  Consul's  orchestra  played 
dance-music  to  the  accompaniment  of  musketry 
and  rockets.  Once  more  the  most  splendid  f£te 
was  that  given  by  Talleyrand,  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs.  At  his  house  the  First  Consul  received 
all  the  distinguished  people — French  or  foreign — 
who  were  then  at  Paris.  The  older  royalty  and 
the  Revolution,  nobles  and  republicans,  new  men 
of  fortune,  soldiers,  scholars,  poets,  artists,  and 
officials — all  came  together  and  paid  homage  for 
the  first  time  to  Napoleon  Bonaparte  as  France's 
first  citizen  and  the  head  of  the  State. 

All  who  have  read  the  memoirs  of  the  period 
are  familiar  with  the  odour  of  summer-roses  that 
clings  to  Malmaison.  In  later  years,  when  the 
great  French  chateaux  were  re-opened,  there  was 
more  pomp  and  brilliance,  but  they  never  eclipsed 
the  fairy  days  at  Malmaison,  with  the  court  that 
was  merely  a  troop  of  fine  young  ladies  and 
gentlemen  on  a  pic-nic.  The  First  Consul,  who 
was  the  centre  of  it  all,  was  no  longer  the  spare, 
dark  general  with  the  yellow  Italian  tint.  His 
whole  appearance  was  changed.  When  he  was  a 
young  officer  he  suffered  severely  from  a  disease 
of  the  skin,  a  sort  of  vicious  scab.  He  contracted 
it  first  on  his  hands  in  the  trenches  before  Toulon, 
where  he  took  part  himself  in  loading  and  serving 
the  guns,  It  spread  over  his  whole  body  and 
became  a  great  plague  to  him.  He  was  not  then 
in  a  position  to  command  the  best  attendance  or 
to  give  sufficient  time  for  a  radical  treatment  of 
the  ailment.  When  he  had  eventually  got  rid 


50  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

of  it,  his  skin  assumed  the  marble  whiteness  that 
characterised  his  family,  and  he  paid  great 
attention  to  the  care  of  it.  He  often  spoke  about 
the  treatment  of  it.  First  he  would  lie  for  hours 
in  water  heated  to  such  a  degree  that  others  could 
hardly  put  a  foot  in  it.  He  also  had  himself 
washed  with  eau  de  Cologne,  of  which  he  used 
enormous  quantities.  His  whole  body  was  then 
well  rubbed,  and  his  servants  put  on  his  under- 
clothing, and  the  narrow  white  trousers,  all  of 
the  finest  material  and  spotlessly  clean.  His 
uniform  was  always  the  blue  or  green  coat  of  the 
body-guard  with  red  facings,  and  afterwards 
court  dress  and  the  fantastic  imperial  clothes. 

He  was  now  a  handsome  well-built  man,  with 
strong  legs,  small,  firm  feet,  clear  and  clean-cut 
features,  and  the  fine  mouth  of  the  Bonapartes, 
with  faultless  white  teeth.  That  was  his  appearance 
when  he  took  part  in  their  games  and  ran  races 
with  Josephine  and  the  other  young  women  in 
the  garden  at  Malmaison.  But  he  did  not  like 
anyone  to  beat  him  in  the  race,  and  he  was  angry 
when  he  fell  down  and  got  grass-spots  on  his 
white  hose.  One  had  to  be  very  serious  then. 
The  young  men  choked  down  their  laughter,  and 
did  not  know  which  way  to  turn,  for  he  was  a 
dangerous  man.  No  one,  not  even  Josephine, 
knew  how  far  he  would  take  a  joke.  He  was 
always  irritable  from  youth  upward.  I  have 
never  read  anywhere  of  Napoleon  laughing.  It 
seems  that  he  could  not.  It  is  said  that  a  good- 
natured  smile  of  his  could  heal  wounds,  and  make 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  51 

the  man  it  was  bestowed  on  follow  him  through 
fire  and  water.  But  there  was  never  a  laugh,  or 
an  outburst  of  hilarity ;  he  had  always  the  same 
marble  coldness,  with  his  lips  firmly  compressed, 
ready  to  issue  the  word  of  command  or  to  frighten 
men  to  death  with  a  voice  that  had  no  equal. 
His  temper  was  always  uncertain. 

The  painter  Isabey  was  light  and  agile,  and 
full  of  jokes,  like  all  the  others.  One  morning 
he  came  through  the  empty  rooms — the  company 
had  gone  to  breakfast — and  saw  in  the  conserva- 
tory a  young  man  whom  he  took  to  be  Lucien 
Bonaparte.  Isabey  quietly  approached  on  tip-toe, 
then  made  a  spring,  and  jumped  full  on  him. 
When  he  turned  round  in  triumph  to  face  him 
he  met  the  dreaded  look  of  the  First  Consul.  The 
little  artist  ran  as  fast  as  he  could  into  the  garden 
and  then  the  forest,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before 
he  would  venture  out,  and  still  longer  before  he 
dare  tell  anyone  of  his  adventure.  The  First 
Consul  went  on  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 

For  my  part  I  have  never  been  in  company 
with  any  great  man,  with  the  exception  of 
Bjornstjerne  Bjornson.  He  too  has  a  look  that 
can  frighten  people  to  death.  When  he  opens  his 
mouth,  it  is  generally  for  the  purpose  of  serious 
talk.  But  how  he  can  laugh  !  His  laughter  has 
a  full  resounding  ring,  as  if  it  came  from  the 
depths  of  his  heart.  There  are  few  things  so 
pleasant  as  to  hear  Bjornson  laugh. 

Napoleon  certainly  never  indulged  in  laughter 
or  in  jovial  intercourse  over  a  glass  or  a  good 


52  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

story.  He  ate  so  quickly  that  no  one  had  enough, 
and  the  young  officers  were  dismayed  as  he  rose 
from  table  before  the  soup  was  finished  at  the 
lower  end  of  it.  He  drank  a  couple  of  glasses 
of  his  red  wine  and  a  little  brandy  when  on  the 
field ;  but  I  have  never  heard  of  him  raising  his 
glass  to  propose  a  health,  and  certainly  the  wine 
never  reached  his  head  in  the  smallest  degree. 
Yet  all  are  agreed  that  he  had  a  most  wonderful 
smile.  One  night  they  were  sitting  together  at 
St.  Helena,  and  talking  of  old  days,  as  usual. 
In  the  course  of  the  conversation,  Las  Cases 
remarked :  '  I  do  not  understand  why  Your 
Majesty  did  not  take  the  sword  of  Frederic  the 
Great,  when  you  had  it  in  your  hand.'  '  Because 
I  had  my  own,'  said  the  Emperor  quietly,  with 
his  characteristic  smile ;  c  and  he  pinched  my 
ear,  without  hurting  me,'  says  Las  Cases. 

That  was  one  of  Napoleon's  habits.  When 
he  was  speaking  to  one  of  his  generals  or  anybody 
that  he  liked,  he  would  take  hold  of  the  lap  of 
his  ear,  and  pinch  it  more  and  more  severely  while 
he  spoke.  One  needed  to  be  very  stolid  to  keep 
still  during  the  ordeal.  His  fingers  were  not 
too  gentle. 

He  was  destructive  by  character  and  custom. 
He  stuck  his  paper-knife  into  the  costly  chairs 
that  were  provided  for  him  everywhere.  He 
wasted  huge  quantities  of  paper.  Whenever  he 
took  up  anything  that  was  frail  or  finely  worked, 
he  was  quite  certain  to  demolish  it  or  damage  it 
before  putting  it  down.  He  pulled  up  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  53 

choicest  plants  in  the  hot-houses,  and,  when  he 
could  do  it  without  being  seen,  he  used  to  shoot 
Josephine's  rare  birds.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
however,  he  was  not  a  good  shot,  and  he  did  very 
little  when  he  was  out  shooting.  But  it  was  a 
kingly  pastime,  and  the  whole  apparatus  was  at 
hand,  and  so  he  took  his  marshals  for  great 
hunts  in  the  forests  of  Fontainebleau.  They 
were  soldiers  and  accustomed  to  hear  the  balls 
whizzing  past  their  ears,  and  they  shot  right  and 
left  on  chance,  to  the  consternation  of  the  real 
sportsmen  and  servants  that  were  there.  One 
day  the  Emperor  shot  out  one  of  the  eyes  of 
Massena,  the  Duke  of  Rivoli,  but  nothing  was  said 
of  it.  Berthier  took  the  blame  for  it,  probably 
because  he  was  master  of  the  hunt. 

As  long  as  they  were  at  Malmaison  the  lively 
and  amiable  Josephine  succeeded  in  dispelling 
the  chill  that  always  surrounded  the  Emperor  in 
later  years.  There  they  lived  like  good  and 
loving  bourgeois,  sleeping  in  the  same  room.  They 
were  together  all  the  time  that  he  was  not  engaged 
with  business,  though  these  intervals  were  brief 
enough.  It  is  incredible  what  an  amount  of  work 
he  got  through  in  those  days.  His  lively  sisters, 
the  young  wives  of  his  generals,  and  the  hand- 
somest officers  in  the  army,  played  comedies  and 
other  performances,  danced  and  made  love  to 
each  other,  without  any  serious  consequences. 
Bonaparte  himself  had  returned  from  Egypt  with 
an  unpleasant  story  about  Josephine.  The  stupid 
Junot  had  told  it  to  him  in  the  trenches  before 


54     NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Acre.  But  she  brought  him  round  ;  he  returned 
to  the  army,  and  all  was  forgiven  and  forgotten. 

The  only  one  that  was  missed  from  the  gay 
company  was  the  charming  Pauline,  the  youngest 
sister  of  the  First  Consul.  She  had  accompanied 
her  husband,  General  Leclerc,  in  the  expedition 
to  San  Domingo  in  1801.  During  the  Revolution 
the  blacks  in  the  French  colony  of  Hayti  had 
freed  themselves,  and  a  negro  called  Toussaint 
TOuverture,  had  been  put  at  the  head  of  a  sort 
of  republic  that  the  blacks  had  formed  after  the 
model  at  Paris.  Bonaparte  gave  his  brother-in- 
law  a  well-equipped  expedition  and  fleet,  and 
told  him  to  restore  order  in  the  colony  as  peace- 
fully as  possible.  The  expedition  entirely  failed. 
Unfortunately,  Toussaint  TOuverture  had  sailed 
for  France  the  day  that  the  fleet  reached  the 
island.  He  was  a  man  of  some  ability.  Leclerc, 
who  could  not  even  keep  order  amongst  his  own 
generals,  met  the  wild  negro-general  Christopher, 
and  the  latter  at  once  began  an  insurrection. 
The  plague  broke  out.  Leclerc  himself  died,  and 
his  successor,  General  Rochambeau,  who  after- 
wards fell  at  Leipsic,  was  a  hard  man,  and  allowed 
himself  to  be  led  by  the  French  planters  into 
waging  a  fearful  war  of  extermination  against 
the  blacks.  They  were  driven  into  the  sea  and 
drowned ;  they  were  hunted  with  blood-hounds 
from  Cuba.  The  expedition  was  a  complete 
failure,  and  the  colony  was  lost  to  France. 

Pauline,  untouched  by  plague  and  other 
horrors,  returned  as  a  widow  to  Paris.  She  was 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  55 

more  charming  than  ever,  and  ready  to  begin 
again  where  she  had  left  off. 

During  these  years  of  comparative  peace  the 
First  Consul  was  constantly  occupied  with  plans 
against  England,  with  which  he  was  always  at 
war.  He  collected  enormous  provisions  of  war 
by  land  and  sea  in  the  north  of  France,  on  the 
Channel,  and  especially  at  Boulogne.  The 
Bourbons  and  emigrants  at  London  were  also 
working  in  their  own  way.  They  set  afoot  a 
fresh  conspiracy  which  was  to  fall  on  the  First 
Consul  during  one  of  his  journeys  to  St.  Cloud  or 
Malmaison,  overcome  the  body-guard  riding  by 
the  carriage,  and  kill  Bonaparte  in  the  struggle. 
This  seemed  to  them  to  be  more  like  a  fight  than 
an  assassination.  They  had  put  at  the  head  of 
the  conspiracy  the  old  Vendean  leader,  Georges 
Cadoudal,  the  people  of  la  Vendee  being  still 
distinguished  by  a  fanatical  loyalty  to  the  royal 
house.  Cadoudal  had  always  wished  to  see  one 
or  two  French  princes  at  his  side,  and  his  idea 
was  to  re-call  the  Bourbons  when  Bonaparte 
should  be  got  rid  of.  The  army  would  be 
conciliated,  and  led  to  fresh  achievements  by 
General  Moreau,  who — though  he  was  far  from 
royalist  in  disposition — was  understood  to  be 
willing  to  take  part  in  the  conspiracy,  because  he 
had  been  at  variance  with  Napoleon  for  some 
time. 

General  Moreau,  who  was  born  in  1761,  had 
covered  himself  with  glory  under  the  Republic. 
His  retreat  from  Holland,  when  Jourdan  had  been 


56  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

beaten  as  usual,  was  and  still  is  regarded  as  a 
masterpiece  of  military  art.  In  the  eyes  of  all 
his  contemporaries,  especially  since  the  death  of 
Desaix,  he  was  next  to  Napoleon.  With  a  very 
short  interval  they  won  the  two  most  brilliant 
victories :  Bonaparte  at  Marengo  in  Italy,  and 
Moreau  at  Hohenlinden  in  Germany.  For  a  time 
it  was  reported  that  he  was  going  to  marry  Pauline 
Leclerc,  but  he  chose  a  certain  Mile.  Hulot,  and 
from  that  day  his  and  Napoleon's  ways  parted. 
The  lady  and  her  mother  succeeded  in  inflaming 
him  against  Napoleon  to  such  an  extent  that  he 
made  it  his  life-aim  and  his  misfortune  to  destroy 
him  and  take  his  place. 

In  order  to  win  General  Moreau,  the 
conspirators  had  chosen  his  old  comrade,  General 
Pichegru.  The  latter,  though  an  old  republican, 
had  accepted  the  Bourbon  plan  at  London,  and 
then  went  to  Paris  to  kill  the  common  enemy. 
The  next  step  was  to  bring  Moreau  and  Pichegru 
together,  and  induce  Moreau,  who  shared 
Pichegru's  hatred  of  Napoleon,  to  join  the  plot. 
In  August,  1803,  Cadoudal  left  London  with  a 
million  francs  in  Bank  of  England  notes,  which 
he  had  sewn  into  his  belt.  He  landed  on  the 
sand-hills  of  Biville  from  a  smuggler,  and  was 
led  from  man  to  man,  using  certain  signs  agreed 
upon,  as  far  as  Paris,  where  be  began  to  collect 
suitable  men  for  the  attack,  and  get  them  uniforms, 
horses,  arms,  and  all  that  was  necessary.  Meantime 
others  were  endeavouring  to  bring  Moreau  and 
Pichegru  together.  Moreau  spoke  with  great 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  57 

warmth  of  his  old  comrade,  and  offered  to  do  all 
in  his  power  to  procure  the  reversal  of  the  sentence 
that  had  banished  Pichegru  to  Cayenne  in  1797. 
It  is  possible  that  he  also  expressed  himself 
somewhat  sharply  about  Napoleon. 

This  was  taken  by  the  intermediary,  a 
General  Lajolais,  as  a  safe  indication  that  Moreau 
was  ready  to  join  the  conspiracy.  He  hastened 
to  London,  via  Hamburg,  and  gave  such  an 
account  of  Moreau' s  bitterness  against  Napoleon 
that  the  emigrants  were  beside  themselves  with 
joy,  and  even  the  Count  Artois,  who  was  after- 
wards King  Charles  X,  compromised  himself  for 
life  by  taking  part  in  meetings  where  the  murder 
of  the  head  of  a  State  was  decided.  Toward  the 
close  of  1804,  Pichegru,  with  several  of  the  highest 
French  nobles,  including  the  brothers  Polignac, 
crossed  the  Channel  in  Captain  Wright's  yacht, 
and  reached  Paris.  A  little  later  Lajolais  brought 
about  a  meeting  between  Moreau  and  Pichegru. 
It  took  place  during  the  night  in  the  deserted 
Boulevard  Madeleine.  The  two  old  friends  were 
deeply  moved  at  seeing  each  other  in  such 
circumstances,  when  Georges  Cadoudal  suddenly 
stepped  out  and  joined  in  the  conversation. 
Moreau  at  once  became  as  cold  as  ice.  At 
subsequent  meetings  it  became  clearer  and  clearer 
that  Moreau  was  quite  willing  to  work  for  himself, 
but  by  no  means  for  the  Bourbons.  It  was  a 
serious  disillusion,  and  was  so  discouraging  to  the 
rest  of  those  who  were  in  the  plot,  that  many 
of  them  thought  of  giving  up  the  whole  enterprise 
and  leaving  Paris. 


58  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Just  at  that  moment  the  arrests  began. 
Fouche  was  not  Minister  of  Police  at  that  time, 
but  he  was  prying  round  everywhere  on  his  own 
account.  R6al,  an  officer  that  Napoleon  often 
used,  was  at  the  head  of  the  Paris  police,  but  he 
knew  nothing  of  the  conspiracy.  It  was  really  the 
First  Consul  himself  who  picked  up  the  first 
threads.  Even  while  he  was  Consul,  and  still 
more  when  he  became  Emperor,  Napoleon's  time 
was  largely  occupied  in  reading  all  kinds  of  police 
reports  and  making  himself  familiar  with  the 
statements  of  spies  that  were  put  before  him 
every  day.  At  the  very  time  when  the  royalist 
murder  was  being  plotted,  he  was  making  a  fool 
of  the  English  envoy  at  Munich.  He  knew  that 
the  man  had  offered  £50,000  for  the  black 
portefeuille  in  Bonaparte's  private  room,  and  so 
he  read  more  carefully  than  ever  the  mass  of 
reports  on  suspicious  persons,  and  the  lists  of 
foreign  and  native  individuals  who  had  disappeared 
or  turned  up.  From  the  large  number  of  these  he 
chose  the  names  of  five  men  who  were  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  judicial  inquiry. 

It  was  evident  that  he  had  a  keen  eye  for 
this  kind  of  work.  Only  two  out  of  the  five 
turned  out  innocent,  and  were  set  at  liberty.  Two 
of  them  were  convicted  of  high  treason  and  shot, 
without  any  information  being  got  out  of  them. 
The  fifth  confessed  that  he  was  one  of  Georges 
Cadoudal's  men,  and  had  come  with  him  from 
England  over  the  sand-hills  of  Biville.  At  the 
same  time,  after  a  nocturnal  struggle  between 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS     59 

custom-officers  and  smugglers  at  the  coast,  a 
piece  of  cartridge-paper  was  picked  up  with  the 
name  Troche  written  on  it.  It  was  found  that 
this  was  the  name  of  the  young  man  who  was 
leader  of  the  conspirators  that  had  come  with 
the  smugglers  from  London  and  secretly  made 
their  way  to  Paris.  These  were  the  first  threads 
of  the  plot. 

The  next  thing  to  be  discovered  was  that 
General  Moreau  was  involved  in  the  affair.  He 
was  at  once  arrested,  and  gradually  forty-five  of 
the  conspirators  were  landed  in  the  various  jails, 
but  the  leaders  were  still  at  liberty.  When 
Moreau  was  arrested,  the  cry  was  raised  imme- 
diately that  Napoleon  was  trying  to  get  rid 
of  his  one  rival  in  this  pitiable  fashion.  Moreau 
stood  so  high  in  the  esteem  of  the  army  and  the 
nation  that  he  could  not  be  conceived  as  helping 
the  royalists  and  those  who  were  considered 
guilty.  Bonaparte's  temper  broke  loose,  and  was 
turned  furiously  on  the  royalists,  from  whom  he 
thought  he  had  deserved  better  treatment.  From 
that  time  he  spared  no  means  of  discovering  the 
leaders,  so  that  the  whole  world  shouldlknow  the 
plot  to  be  a  dangerous  royalist  conspiracy  against 
the  first  man  in  France.  The  prisoners  insisted 
that  they  had  been  acting  with  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  names  in  France,  and  that  a  prince 
of  the  blood — they  thought  it  was  the  Due  de 
Berry — was  to  come  to  Paris,  if  he  was  not 
already  there. 


60  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

6 1  will  forgive  Moreau,'  said  Bonaparte, 
4  but  I  will  shoot  the  first  Bourbon  that  falls  into 
my  hands.' 

He  sent  the  judge  Reynier  to  Moreau  in 
prison,  to  extract  a  confession,  and,  so  it  was 
proposed,  bring  the  general  to  the  Tuileries.  But 
the  official  conducted  the  business  with  so  little 
tact  that  Moreau  did  not  realise  the  good  intention. 
Not  knowing  that  the  greater  part  had  already 
been  betrayed  by  the  others,  he  denied  everything, 
and  made  use  of  all  kinds  of  foolish  subterfuges. 

'  Very  well,'  said  Bonaparte,  '  he  shall  be 
put  on  trial.' 

They  still  failed  to  discover  Pichegru  and 
Cadoudal  and  the  other  leaders  in  Paris,  and  an 
extraordinary  law  was  passed  that  threatened 
with  death  all  who  were  concerned  in  hiding  them  ; 
those  who  knew  it  and  did  not  give  information 
would  have  six  years  in  the  galleys.  Pichegru 
moved,  as  he  did  not  like  the  company  he  had 
fallen  into.  He  spent  one  night  at  the  house 
of  the  minister  Marbois,  with  whom  he  had 
been  banished  before.  Napoleon  appreciated  the 
friendly  act  so  far  as  to  spare  the  minister,  when 
he  heard  of  it  afterwards.  At  last  someone  was 
found  who  would  betray  Pichegru  for  100,000 
francs.  He  gave  them  the  key  of  the  rooms 
where  he  had  himself  conducted  the  general.  The 
police  entered  the  rooms  at  night,  and  seized  the 
pistols  that  lay  by  the  bed  ;  though  the  powerful 
general  fought  them  in  his  shirt  before  they 
could  bind  him  and  take  him  to  prison. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  61 

They  afterwards  took  the  brothers  Polignac, 
Riviere,  and  finally  CadoudaL  He  was  caught  in 
a  small  carriage  on  one  of  the  outer  boulevards 
by  two  policemen.  He  shot  one  dead  and 
wounded  the  other,  but  the  people  prevented  him 
from  escaping.  Cadoudal  made  no  secret  of  his 
object  in  Paris,  and  was  shot  without  asking  any 
consideration.  As  Cadoudal  and  the  Polignacs 
were  now  arrested,  the  matter  got  abroad,  and 
people  learned  with  astonishment  that  the  royal 
family  itself  was  privy  to  the  plot  to  murder  the 
deliverer  of  France.  Unhappily,  Napoleon  was 
so  much  embittered  that  he  would  not  rest  until 
he  had  found  traces  of  the  Bourbons.  He  was 
ready  even  to  pardon  Pichegru,  and  send  him  as 
governor  to  Cayenne,  to  organise  the  colony 
there ;  but  for  the  royal  party  there  was  to  be 
no  mercy. 

One  day  he  went  through  the  Bourbon  family 
with  Talleyrand  and  Fouche,  and  when  he  heard 
of  the  Due  d'Enghien,  whose  name  was  scarcely 
known  to  him,  he  set  his  spies  to  work  at  once. 
He  was  soon  informed  that  the  young  prince  lived 
close  to  the  French  frontier — nearer  than  any  of 
the  other  emigrants — at  Ettenheim,  in  Baden, 
that  he  was  often  absent  for  days  together,  and 
that  he  received  suspicious  visitors.  One  of  these 
was  falsely  said  to  be  Dumouriez,  one  of  the 
republican  generals  who  had  fled  to  England  to 
escape  a  charge  of  high  treason.  It  agreed  only 
too  well  with  all  that  the  prisoners  had  stated — 
that  in  their  gatherings  a  distinguished  young 


62  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

person  appeared  at  times,  and  was  treated  with 
exceptional  respect  by  the  others.  The  First 
Consul  firmly  believed  that  he  had  now  found 
the  last  link  in  the  plot.  He  sent  General  Ordener 
across  the  frontier  to  arrest  the  duke  at  Ettenheim, 
and  at  the  same  time  sent  his  best  envoy,  Count 
Caulaincourt,  to  the  Baden  court  to  excuse  the 
infringement  of  territorial  limits.  He  was 
occupied  for  a  whole  week  with  the  affair,  and  he 
worked  himself  to  such  a  pitch  of  excitement  that 
no  power  in  the  world  could  restrain  him.  The 
unfortunate  young  duke,  who  was  certainly 
innocent,  was  arrested  in  bed,  brought  to  Paris, 
and  was,  after  a  very  slight  legal  procedure,  shot 
at  Vincennes  in  the  early  morning. 

The  incident  caused  a  stir  in  contemporary 
life  that  we  can  hardly  appreciate.  The  unjust 
and  hasty  deed  is  one  of  the  worst  that  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  ever  committed.  It  forms  the  refrain 
to  all  the  vituperative  songs  of  his  enemies.  We 
have  to  remember  what  a  prince  of  the  blood 
meant  at  that  time ;  this  one  was  the  last  of  the 
house  of  Conde,  which  was  closely  related  to  the 
Bourbons.  He  belonged  to  the  highest  rank  of 
European  nobility.  Moreover,  Europe  had  already 
begun  to  speak  of  the  Corsican  monster,  the 
bloody  tyrant,  etc.,  and  was  anxious  to  find 
some  ground  for  this  hatred. 

Paris  seemed  to  be  shaken  by  a  thunder-bolt. 
Nothing  like  it  had  been  known  since  the 
Revolution,  if  even  then.  It  had  all  taken  place 
so  quickly  that  at  first  people  only  knew  that 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  63 

an  emigrant  prince  had  been  violently  seized  on 
foreign  territory,  and  passed  before  a  court- 
martial  with  hardly  any  investigation.  Although 
more  than  a  third  of  the  Parisians  were  ignorant 
who  the  Due  d'Enghien  was,  all  were  horrified 
at  this  nocturnal  trial — without  a  jury — coming, 
as  it  did,  after  the  questionable  treatment  of  the 
conspirators.  Malmaison  was  intensely  excited. 
Mme.  Re*  musat  and  the  other  ladies  were  paralysed 
with  horror.  Josephine  threw  herself  sobbing  on 
her  husband's  neck,  crying :  *  Listen  to  me, 
Bonaparte  !  If  you  have  your  prisoner  shot,  you 
will  be  guillotined  yourself — like  my  first  husband  ; 
and  this  time  you  will  take  me  with  you.' 

Fouch6  was  pleased  in  his  sombre  way. 
*  That  was  fortunate,'  he  said.  *  I  began  to  fear 
that  this  little  Bonaparte  would  be  content  to 
play  the  part  of  General  Monk.'  Bernadotte  was 
of  much  the  same  opinion.  He  rubbed  his  hands, 
and  said :  '  We  have  him  now  ! '  He  meant 
that  the  First  Consul  had  played  his  stakes  too 
high,  and  it  might  be  his  ruin.  Talleyrand 
expended  his  wit  over  it :  '  It's  worse  than  a 
crime ;  it's  a  blunder.'  The  affected  Lucien 
Bonaparte  rushed  into  his  wife's  bedroom  with 
the  cry  :  *  Alexandrine,  let  us  fly  !  He  has  tasted 
blood.'  He  posed  as  a  noble  republican,  and  so 
his  brother  was  a  blood-thirsty  tyrant. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  form  a  more  unjust 
estimate  of  Napoleon  than  that  of  his  brother 
Lucien.  He  was  neither  cruel  nor  blood-thirsty. 
He  did  the  sanguinary  work  of  a  soldier,  in  which 


64  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

he  was  a  master,  but  he  was  devoid  of  the  cruelty 
that  characterised  nearly  all  the  other  great 
soldiers  with  whose  glory  our  children's  lessons 
are  poisoned.  If  in  this  case  he  made  a  violent 
end  of  an  enemy,  it  was  a  sort  of  family  revenge. 
The  other  Bourbons  had  sent  men  to  murder 
him,  and  surrounded  him  with  bravoes  in  his  own 
country,  though  their  machinations  had  happened 
to  fail  through  a  series  of  accidents. 

As  to  the  young  man  who  became  the  victim, 
he  belonged  to  a  race  whose  degeneration  is 
obvious  to  us  to-day.  The  great  military  genius 
that  had  once  been  found  in  the  family — in  the 
great  Cond6 — had  assumed  a  different  shape. 
Insanity  and  suicide  entered  into  the  blood.  One 
of  the  duke's  ancestors  at  the  siege  of  Belgrade 
shot  sentinels  and  others  who  appeared  on  the 
walls  from  safe  cover  ;  and  when  he  settled  down 
at  Paris,  Louis  XIV  had  to  pardon  him  three 
times  for  shooting  from  his  palace  windows  at 
slaters  and  other  workmen  on  neighbouring  roofs, 
merely  for  the  entertainment  of  seeing  them  fall 
into  the  street  below.  Certainly,  there  is  nothing 
of  that  kind  against  the  Due  d'Enghien.  But  he 
was  still  young  when  he  was  killed. 

Napoleon  defended  the  deed  to  the  last 
moment  on  the  ground  that  it  was  necessary  for 
the  security  of  the  State.  He  took  the  whole 
responsibility  on  himself,  and  he  says  in  his  will 
that  he  would  act  in  the  same  way  again  in  the 
same  circumstances.  However,  that  may  be,  it 
gave  a  wholesome  fright  to  the  royalists  and  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  65 

royal  house.  The  conspiracy  and  all  that  went 
with  it  soon  engendered  in  the  people  a  feeling 
that  demanded  the  empire  and  an  hereditary 
dynasty  as  the  sole  means  of  assuring  the  future 
of  the  country. 


CHAPTER   II 

In  May,  1804,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was 
chosen  Emperor  of  the  French  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  and  his  family  were  declared 
to  have  an  hereditary  right  to  the  throne. 

The  first  thing  to  which  he  devoted  his 
attention  as  Emperor  was  the  army.  He  gave 
grateful  distinction  both  to  the  older  generals 
whom  he  had  found  in  office  at  the  time  of  his 
own  rise,  and  to  the  younger  men  who  had  grown 
to  be  a  power  in  France  and  a  terror  to  Europe 
under  his  own  supervision.  With  great  pomp  he 
elevated  eighteen  generals  to  the  rank  of  marshals 
of  the  empire,  and  made  them  generous  awards 
of  land  and  money.  There  were  a  few  amongst 
the  older  generals  whose  merits  were  slight  in 
comparison  with  those  of  the  younger  men.  But 
it  was  his  intention,  and  a  fine  stroke  of  policy, 
to  bring  together  the  old  and  the  new,  so  that 
the  adventurous  character  of  his  own  rise  might 
not  be  too  apparent.  The  six  older  men  were : 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  67 

Perrignon,  Serrurier,  Brune,  Jourdan,  Kellermann, 
and  Lefebvre,  as  well  as  Augereau,  Soult,  and 
Massena.  The  new  men  were :  Bessieres,  Davoust, 
Moncey,  Mortier,  Ney,  Lannes,  Bernadotte, 
Berthier,  and  Murat.  Most  of  these  afterwards 
became  dukes  and  princes,  with  titles  taken  from 
the  battles  they  won.  Kleber  and  Desaix,  who 
were  more  worthy  of  the  marshal's  staff  than  any 
of  the  others,  had  fallen. 

He  then  pardoned  most  of  those  who  had 
been  implicated  in  the  conspiracy.  Only  Cadoudal 
and  twelve  others  were  shot.  General  Pichegru 
strangled  himself  in  prison  with  his  own  necker- 
chief. Moreau  was  condemned  to  two  years' 
imprisonment,  but  the  sentence  was  commuted  at 
the  instance  of  his  wife  into  a  journey  to  North 
America.  He  bought  some  property  at  Delaware, 
and  lived  quietly  there  until  the  news  of  Napoleon's 
campaign  in  Russia  gave  him  fresh  hope  of 
realising  his  ambitious  dreams.  He  returned  in 
1813,  and  met  his  death  in  the  midst  of  the 
enemies  of  France.  Napoleon  bought  his  French 
estate,  Grosbois,  and  gave  it  to  Berthier.  His 
hotel  at  Paris  he  gave  to  Bernadotte.  It  was 
the  same  house  in  the  rue  Anjou  from  the  garden 
of  which  Napoleon  III  sent  pears  to  the  widowed 
queen  Desideria  at  Stockholm. 

King  Louis  XVIII  was  now  far  from  being 
in  the  mood  in  which  he  had  written  to  General 
Bonaparte.  He  protested  in  the  most  lofty  terms 
against  '  the  usurper,'  etc.  Napoleon's  only 
reply  was  to  publish  the  royal  proclamation 
in  the  Moniteur. 


68  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Meantime,  the  Emperor's  mind  was  no  less 
taken  up  with  great  plans  than  that  of  the  First 
Consul  had  been.  He  had  to  consolidate  the  new 
order  of  things  that  had  arisen  amidst  the  hatred 
of  the  whole  of  Europe.  Throughout  his  whole 
life  he  had  no  peace  with  England,  by  day  or 
night.  There  came  a  time  when  he  felt  the  whole 
of  the  continent  to  be  in  his  hands,  but  never 
England.  It  seemed  in  the  end  to  be  Russia  that 
undid  him,  but  that  was  not  so  in  reality.  He 
fell  before  Old  England,  '  tasteless  Albion,'  the 
cradle  of  freedom. 

On  the  8th  of  July,  the  Emperor  left  St.  Cloud 
for  the  purpose  of  inspecting  the  vast  forces  with 
which  he  threatened  England.  It  was  in  the 
midst  of  this  army  and  fleet  that  he  arranged  the 
great  festival  at  which  he  founded  the  order  of 
the  Legion  of  Honour.  On  the  broad  plain  were 
100,000  fine  soldiers  under  the  command  of 
Marshal  Soult,  while  the  fleet,  not  quite  so  brilliant, 
lay  in  the  neighbouring  harbour.  Surrounded  by 
his  brothers  and  the  new  marshals,  Napoleon  took 
the  oath  of  the  new  order,  and  all  repeated  the 
words  after  him  in  a  scene  of  enthusiasm  that 
could  never  be  forgotten. 

He  travelled  about  from  place  to  place  in  the 
north  of  France  for  three  months,  and  returned 
through  Aix  and  Mayence  on  October  12th,  in 
order  to  prepare  for  the  coronation  of  himself  and 
Josephine.  It  was  a  pompous  and  tedious 
ceremony,  but  perhaps  more  brilliant  than  it  had 
been  under  the  former  kings.  It  was  a  point  of 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  69 

honour  with  him  to  eclipse  all  other  princes. 
The  pope  himself  came  from  Rome,  and  blessed 
the  imperial  couple  at  Notre  Dame.  But  when 
the  pious  pontiff  had  uttered  the  blessing  on  the 
two  crowns  that  lay  before  him,  Napoleon  took 
up  one  of  them  and  put  it  on  his  own  head  and  the 
other  on  Josephine's,  who  was  on  her  knees  in  front 
of  the  altar.  Nothing  so  stupendous  had  ever  been 
witnessed  before.  The  festivals  were  brilliant 
beyond  conception,  but  many  of  the  older  generals 
and  some  of  the  younger  ones  made  fun  of  all 
his  clerical  performances  and  incense. 

The  execution  of  the  Due  d'Enghien  and  the 
invasion  of  Baden  had  broken  off  all  communi- 
cation between  the  European  courts  and  Paris, 
and  had  provoked  a  new  coalition  against 
Napoleon.  The  Emperor  wrote  another  homely 
letter  to  his  '  brother,'  the  King  of  England,  but 
the  only  result  was  a  cold  and  formal  reply  from 
the  ministry,  as  before.  On  April  2nd,  1805, 
Napoleon  travelled  with  the  Empress  to  Milan, 
where  he  crowned  himself  with  the  ancient  iron 
crown  of  Lombardy  as  King  of  Italy.  There  was 
enthusiastic  rejoicing  wherever  they  appeared  in 
France  and  Italy.  In  the  month  of  July  they 
were  back  in  his  favourite  chateau  at  Fontaine- 
bleau. 

Meantime  there  was  great  activity  in  all  the 
Cabinets  of  Europe,  and  in  September,  when 
Napoleon  was  again  at  Boulogne,  where  he 
conducted  a  general  experiment  in  embarking  his 
army,  the  Austrians  under  General  Mack  marched 


70  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

into  Bavaria.  Marshal  Soult's  whole  corps  was 
already  aboard  the  fleet.  But  just  at  the  moment 
of  the  Austrian  outbreak,  Napoleon  learned  that 
Admiral  Villeneuve,  whom  he  had  selected  for 
conveying  the  troops  to  England,  and  whose 
appearance  in  the  Channel  was  daily  expected, 
had  been  shut  up  in  a  Spanish  harbour  and 
blockaded  by  the  English.  It  was  Napoleon's 
original  intention  to  entrust  the  command  to 
Admiral  Latouche-Treville,  the  only  French 
admiral  of  any  competence.  But  he  unfortunately 
died  just  at  the  time.  Count  Daru,  the  general- 
intendant  of  the  army,  a  man  who  approached 
Napoleon  very  closely  in  daily  life,  came  into  the 
Emperor's  tent  at  Boulogne  on  the  very  morning 
that  the  news  arrived.  The  Emperor  was  walking 
backwards  and  forwards  in  the  greatest  excitement. 

*  Sit  down,  Daru,  and  write,'  he  said. 

In  the  course  of  one  morning  he  altered  his 
long  and  laborious  plans.  He  wheeled  round  his 
army,  which  was  facing  London,  and  marched  it 
without  a  break  toward  Vienna.  At  one  sitting 
he  dictated  the  plans  of  the  campaign  that  ended 
at  Austerlitz.  Each  army  corps  received  its 
route,  from  Hanover  and  Holland,  from  Italy  and 
the  south  of  France.  The  march  for  each  day 
was  prescribed,  and  all  the  points  were  indicated 
at  which  the  columns  were  to  meet.  The  plan 
was  so  accurate  that  the  troops  marched  200  miles 
eastwards  without  having  to  make  the  slightest 
deviation  from  the  prescribed  route.  They 
reached  their  destinations,  and  the  whole  plan 
was  carried  out  with  complete  success. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  71 

We  hardly  know  what  to  think  when  we  find 
Fouche,  the  Minister  of  Police,  declaring :  '  All 
the  Austrian  spies  were  bought  much  more  easily 
than  one  would  think.  Most  of  them  had  already 
been  secured  by  us  in  Italy,  and  this  had  had  a 
good  deal  to  do  with  the  defeat  of  Wurmser  and 
Alvinczy.  Before  the  campaign  of  1805,  the 
operation  was  conducted  on  a  larger  scale,  and 
nearly  all  the  generals  on  the  Austrian  staff  were 
accessible.  I  had  given  all  my  secret  information 
on  Germany  to  General  Savary,  the  head  of  the 
intelligence  department  at  the  Emperor's  head- 
quarters, and  he  used  it  with  success.  As  all  the 
breaches  were  thus  open,  it  was  mere  sham  fighting 
for  our  brave  soldiers  and  superior  manoeuvres 
at  Ulm,  on  the  bridge  at  Vienna,  and  at  Austerlitz.' 

It  was  also  *  sham  fighting '  when  Napoleon 
pretended  one  day  at  the  Tuileries,  after  the  Peace 
of  Pressburg,  to  be  angry  with  the  Minister  of 
Finance,  because  the  treasury  was  in  difficulties  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war.  These  difficulties, 
Fouche  says,  had  been  created  by  the  Emperor 
himself  by  abstracting  fifty  million  francs  from 
the  cellars  of  the  bank  for  the  purpose  of  bribery. 
They  had  contributed  in  a  high  degree  to  the 
remarkable  success  of  the  improvised  campaign. 
It  is  quite  certain  that,  though  Fouche  chatters 
and  exaggerates,  he  had  good  reason  to  regard 
many  things  with  distrust  that  seem  wonderful  to 
us.  It  is  not  easy  to  determine  how  much  was 
due  to  the  superiority  and  bravery  of  the  leaders, 
and  how  much  was  a  shameless  comedy,  facilitated 


72  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

by  previous  payments  of  money.  Spies  are  now 
an  essential  part  of  international  intercourse. 
Every  country  has  them  and  every  country  hangs 
them.  There  was  certainly  nothing  in  Napoleon's 
character  inconsistent  with  the  use  of  spies  and 
bribes.  These  indelicate  weapons  were  as 
convenient  to  his  hand  as  to  anybody  else's. 
Although  the  landing  in  England  was  his  favourite 
plan,  he  may  very  well  have  had  also  a  completely 
elaborated  plan  of  the  Austrian  campaign, 
including  all  the  corruption  and  treachery  on 
which  he  could  safely  rely.  His  head  had  room 
for  everything  at  that  time.  If  one  thing  failed, 
he  always  had  another  plan. 

The  grande  armee  of  the  year  1805  was  the 
first  to  be  composed  entirely  on  the  lines  of 
Napoleon's  system.  In  the  republican  armies  each 
corps  was  a  sort  of  separate  army,  with  its  own 
arms  of  all  kinds,  commissariat,  hospital,  train, 
etc.  In  the  course  of  time  Napoleon  organised 
the  forces  so  as  to  have  them  better  in  hand 
himself.  Each  corps  was  complete  with  infantry 
and  all  that  belonged  to  it,  including  field  artillery. 
But  of  the  cavalry  only  a  few  squadrons  of 
hussars  and  mounted  riflemen,  for  reconaissances 
and  covering,  were  under  the  command  of  the 
head  of  the  corps.  A  corps  was  usually  com- 
manded by  a  marshal.  The  whole  of  the  heavy 
cavalry  was  under  a  particular  general,  who  was 
usually  Murat ;  and  of  these  troops  and  the 
artillery  Napoleon  took  what  each  corps  needed, 
either  in  the  course  of  the  battle  or  to  execute  a 
manoeuvre. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  73 

The  corps  of  the  body-guard  had  developed 
into  the  Imperial  Guard.  It  consisted  of  horse 
and  foot  grenadiers,  mamelukes  from  Egypt,  a 
brilliant  Italian  battalion,  and  two  squadrons  of 
picked  gendarmes,  who  kept  order  at  head- 
quarters. To  these  Napoleon  added  a  chosen 
artillery-park  of  twenty-four  guns,  so  that  the 
Guard  was  really  a  small  army  of  7,000  men,  with 
officers  selected  from  the  finest  in  the  army.  With 
the  Guard,  Lannes  and  Oudinot's  grenadiers 
generally  marched  near  the  Emperor. 

The  army  that  began  to  march  across  Europe 
in  September  was  divided  into  seven  corps.  The 
first  was  under  Marshal  Bernadotte  in  Hanover, 
with  Generals  Drouot,  Rivaud,  and  the  younger 
Kellermann.  The  second  corps  was  that  of 
General  Marmont  in  Holland.  With  him  were 
Boudet  and  Grouchy  and  a  large  number  of  Dutch 
auxiliaries.  The  third  corps  was  under  Davoust, 
with  Generals  Friant  and  Gudin ;  the  fourth 
under  Soult,  with  Saint  Hilaire,  Vandamme,  and 
Legrand ;  the  fifth  under  Lannes,  with  Suchet 
and  Gazan,  and  Marshal  Oudinot  and  his 
grenadiers ;  the  sixth  under  Ney,  with  Dupont 
and  Loison,  and  the  cavalry-general  Colbert ;  the 
seventh  was  led  by  Marshal  Augereau.  The 
cavalry,  with  its  brilliant  group  of  generals — 
Nansouty,  Milhaud,  TEspagne,  Lasalle,  and  the 
famous  d'Hautpoul — was  commanded  by  Murat. 
The  mounted  Imperial  Guard  was  led  by  Marshal 
Bessieres,  and  the  foot-guards  by  Marshal  Mortier. 
Marshal  Brune  remained  in  the  abandoned  camp 
at  Boulogne. 


74  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

All  these  army  corps,  with  their  vast  appur- 
tenances began  to  march  on  their  various  routes 
on  the  same  day.  They  went  straight  across 
Germany  in  order  to  meet  the  Austrians,  who 
had  raised  a  large  army  under  the  Archduke 
Charles,  and  had  Russian  troops  in  their  rear, 
led  by  the  Emperor  Alexander  himself  and 
General  Kutusow.  Marching  was  heavy  work  in 
those  days.  The  roads  were  few  and  bad,  and 
there  were  not  many  proper  bridges  ;  and  they 
had  a  very  heavy  train  and  heavy  artillery. 

Bavaria,  Baden,  and  Wiirtemberg  received 
Napoleon  as  a  friend  and  ally,  and  he  adopted 
the  dangerous  practice  of  taking  large  masses  of 
foreign  troops  into  his  service  and  expecting  the 
same  bravery  and  fidelity  from  them  as  from  the 
French,  when  they  were  under  his  own  officers. 
He  had  no  pronounced  national  feeling.  He 
himself  travelled  from  Paris  to  Strassburg,  and 
crossed  the  Rhine  on  the  first  of  October.  All 
the  information  he  received  assured  him  that 
everything  was  in  order.  The  great  plan  matured 
quickly  and  accurately. 

On  October  15th,  General  Mack  was 
surrounded  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  fortress 
of  Ulm,  and  completely  cut  off  from  the  Russians, 
who  tried  to  come  to  his  support  from  the  east. 
In  the  conflicts  that  followed  Ney  won  special 
distinction.  He  was  ordered  to  take  a  particularly 
strong  position,  the  monastery  of  Elchingen,  which 
was  defended  by  General  Laudon  with  15,000  men 
and  40  guns.  After  heavy  losses  Ney  succeeded 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  75 

in  entering  the  abbey  with  a  desperate  charge. 
Two  days  afterwards  Mack  was  forced  to  surrender 
the  town  and  fortress  of  Ulm.  Before  Napoleon 
and  his  staff  defiled  30,000  men,  with  16  generals, 
60  guns,  40  flags,  and  3,000  horses.  Berthier 
received  the  sword  of  the  unfortunate  General 
Mack.  It  was  not  the  first  time  that  General 
Mack  had  had  to  surrender  his  sword.  He  had 
done  so  to  General  Championnet,  in  the  republican 
days,  at  the  taking  of  Naples.  But  Championnet 
was  a  good-natured  man.  '  Keep  your  sword, 
General,'  he  said.  '  My  government  has  forbidden 
me  to  receive  presents  of  English  manufacture.' 
Marshal  Ney  was  made  Duke  of  Elchingen  and 
General  Exelmans  received  the  grand  cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honour  for  his  behaviour  at  Wertingen. 
After  the  capitulation  of  Ulm  the  troops, 
with  Napoleon  in  the  midst  of  them,  marched 
from  victory  to  victory.  Marshal  Mortier  im- 
mortalised himself  by  a  heroic  struggle  against 
a  superior  force  at  Diirnstein.  Murat  was  to  be 
found  everywhere  with  his  cavalry.  The  whole 
army,  which  had  now  been  in  Napoleon's  hands 
for  ten  years,  was  perfect  in  every  respect,  and  its 
generals  were  at  their  best.  No  one  was  ever  tired. 
Rivalry  had  not  yet  become  bitter.  The  generous 
gifts  and  distinctions  were  still  at  their  beginning. 
Oudinot  marched  straight  with  his  grenadiers  from 
the  Boulogne  camp  to  Vienna  in  45  days.  There 
he  went  himself  with  some  of  his  officers  on  the 
undermined  bridge  over  the  Danube,  and  snatched 
the  burning  fuse  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Austrian 


76  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

officers  who  stood  ready  to  blow  up  the  bridge. 
Murat,  Lannes,  and  Sebastian!  were  with  him. 

On  November  15th,  1805,  Napoleon  rode  into 
Vienna  for  the  first  time.  The  Emperor  Francis 
had  retreated  to  Olmiitz.  The  French  army 
marched  after  him.  Marshal  Soult,  afterwards 
Duke  of  Dalmatia,  one  of  the  solid  generals  who 
always  led  large  divisions  of  the  army  with 
distinction,  crossed  the  Danube,  and  defeated  the 
enemy  at  Hollabrunn.  An  envoy  came  from  the 
Emperor  Francis  with  a  proposal  to  conclude  an 
armistice ;  but  Napoleon  knew  very  well  that 
this  was  merely  in  order  to  give  the  Russians  time 
to  come  up.  Field-marshal  Kutusow  and  the 
Emperor  Alexander  were  already  at  Wischau. 

Napoleon  seized  the  opportunity  to  approach 
the  man  whom  he  regarded  as  his  greatest  rival 
in  the  world,  and  who  was  afterwards  the  last  to 
be  conquered — or  won — by  him.  He  proposed  a 
personal  interview  with  the  Tsar,  but  Alexander 
merely  sent  Prince  Dolgorucki.  When  the  prince 
came,  Napoleon  had  caused  his  army  to  retreat 
a  couple  of  miles,  and  was  busy  strengthening  his 
new  position.  Dolgorucki  concluded  from  this 
that  the  French  had  lost  courage,  and  would 
rather  retreat  than  face  the  Russians.  His 
impression  was  received  with  delight  by  the 
Russians,  and  they  at  once  advanced.  Napoleon 
took  up  his  head-quarters  at  Briinn,  and  was 
determined  to  choose  his  own  field  of  battle. 

On  Novermber  28th,  the  combined  armies 
were  far  beyond  Wischau  and  near  to  Pratzen. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  ANDjMETHODS     77 

Napoleon  acquainted  his  generals  with  the  ground 
he  had  chosen,  and  said  :  '  If  I  merely  wanted  to 
keep  the  enemy  off,  I  should  remain  here  on  the 
heights  of  Pratzen.  But  in  that  case  I  should 
only  win  an  ordinary  battle.  I  will,  therefore, 
let  my  right  wing  take  up  a  position  in  the  direction 
of  Briinn,  and  if  the  Russians  are  enticed  by 
that  to  descend  from  these  hills,  they  are  hope- 
lessly lost.'  On  December  1st  Napoleon  was 
delighted  to  see  that  the  Russians  and  Austrians 
were  executing  the  very  manoeuvre  that  he  was 
luring  them  to  do.  They  left  the  heights  of 
Pratzen  and  marched  on  Briinn,  in  order  to  attack 
or  surround  the  French  right  wing.  Those  with 
Napoleon  heard  him  say  repeatedly  to  himself 
*  Before  to-morrow  night  the  army  is  in  my 
power.' 

On  the  evening  of  December  1st  he  went 
round  the  camp.  Some  of  the  soldiers  made 
torches  out  of  the  straw  they  slept  on,  in  order  to 
light  the  way  for  the  Emperor  in  the  dark  winter 
night.  The  whole  army  noticed  it,  and  as  he 
went  from  corps  to  corps  the  straw-torches  flamed 
out,  until  the  whole  camp  was  filled  with  fire  and 
smoke,  and  the  cry  rang  out  from  thousands  of 
throats  :  '  Long  live  the  Emperor  !' 

On  the  morning  of  December  2nd,  1805,  the 
entire  French  army  was  drawn  up  in  order  of 
battle,  as  he  had  directed.  Marshal  Lannes 
formed  the  left  whig  with  the  divisions  of  Suchet 
and  Cafarelli.  Marshal  Bernadotte  was  in  the 
centre  with  Rivaud  and  Drouot.  The  right  wing 


78  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

was  led  by  Marshal  Soult,  and  really  decided  the 
battle.  The  whole  of  the  cavalry  under  Murat 
sat  on  horseback  in  two  lines.  Napoleon  himself 
had  under  him  ten  battalions  of  the  Guard,  and 
ten  battalions  of  grenadiers  under  Oudinot.  The 
sun  burst  out  of  the  wintry  fog  that  lay  on  the 
plain  and  the  ice-covered  waters,  and  was  mirrored 
on  the  panoply  of  war.  At  that  moment  the 
Russians  were  seen  to  leave  Pratzen. 

*  How  long  will  you  need,  Marshal,'  Napoleon 
asked  Soult,  '  to  occupy  the  hills  that  the  enemy 
is  leaving  ?' 

'  One  hour,  your  Majesty  !' 

'  Good  !  Then  we'll  wait  another  quarter  of 
an  hour,'  said  Napoleon. 

Soon  afterwards  the  guns  opened  fire  and  the 
battle  began.  Kutusow  had  divided  his  fighting 
forces  into  six  corps.  As  reserves  he  had  the 
famous  Russian  Guard,  which  was  commanded  by 
the  Grand  Duke  Constantine.  Although  Field- 
marshal  Kutusow  had  the  chief  command,  the 
plan  came  from  the  Austrian  General  Weiroth. 
Kutusow  had  fruitlessly  resisted  it.  When  he 
now  saw  the  turn  that  the  battle  was  taking,  as 
Marshal  Soult's  troops  began  to  occupy  the  hills 
at  Pratzen,  he  tried  with  all  his  forces  to  overpower 
them,  and  he  fought  with  heavy  losses  to  regain 
the  position  which  he  now  clearly  saw  to  be 
of  decisive  importance.  For  two  hours  there  was 
a  fierce  conflict.  At  length  Kutusow  had  to  give 
way,  and  from  that  moment  the  battle  took  such 
a  turn  that  nothing  could  stand  against  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  79 

French.  Lannes  and  Murat  forced  back  the  right 
wing  under  Prince  Bagration ;  General  Rapp 
made  his  famous  attack  with  the  curassiers,  in 
which  he  took  Prince  Repnin  prisoner  ;  and  when 
Napoleon  came  up  to  support  Soult  with  his 
Guard  and  Oudinot's  grenadiers,  everything  fell 
at  once  into  the  hands  of  the  French — guns, 
artillery  waggons,  flags,  etc.  Those  who  tried  to 
flee  across  the  river  were  drowned,  as  the  ice  broke 
under  the  weight  of  the  guns  and  owing  to  the 
holes  made  in  it  by  the  French  balls.  Whole 
divisions  were  demolished  or  gave  up  their  arms. 

The  result  was  extraordinary.  There  were 
25,000  killed  and  wounded  and  25,000  taken 
prisoners,  together  with  a  number  of  flags, 
including  the  standard  of  the  Imperial  Russian 
Guard. 

Only  two  French  officers  of  high  rank  fell  at 
Austerlitz.  General  Valhuet,  whose  leg  was  shot 
from  under  him,  died  at  once,  and  Colonel  Morland 
fell  at  the  head  of  the  riflemen  of  the  Imperial 
Guard.  His  body  was  taken  to  Paris  in  a  cask 
of  rum,  but  was  forgotten  and  left  in  it  until  1814. 
The  brave  and  active  General  Rapp  was  badly 
wounded.  He  was  one  of  the  unlucky  officers. 
He  got  four  wounds  in  the  republican  wars  and 
three  in  Egypt.  His  arm  especially  was  unlucky, 
and  was  always  being  hit.  General  Thiebault  also 
was  wounded. 

After  Austerlitz  Napoleon's  habit  of  rewarding 
his  men  assumed  the  most  princely  proportions, 
and  he  retained  this  generosity  as  long  as  he  had 


80  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

anything  to  give  away.  He  adopted  the  children 
of  the  soldiers  who  had  fallen  in  the  battle.  They 
were  to  be  reared  at  the  expense  of  the  State, 
and  he  gave  them  permission  to  add  '  Napoleon ' 
to  their  names.  He  awarded  pensions  to  all  the 
widows,  from  the  widows  of  generals  to  those  of 
privates,  and  expressed  his  thanks  to  the  army  in 
fine  language.  *  My  people  will  receive  you  with 
pride,'  he  said,  'and  whenever  one  of  you  says 
"  I  was  at  Austerlitz,"  all  will  respond  with  one 
voice  :  "  This  is  a  brave  man." 

In  recognition  of  their  aid  Bavaria  and 
Wiirtemberg  were  made  kingdoms,  and  Baden  a 
Grand  Duchy.  Murat  was  made  Grand  Duke  of 
Berg,  Berthier  Prince  of  Neuchatel.  Eugene 
Beauharnais,  Josephine's  son,  was  appointed 
Viceroy  of  Italy  and  married  to  a  daughter  of  the 
King  of  Bavaria.  Shortly  afterwards  Joseph 
became  King  of  Naples,  and  Lucien  King  of 
Holland.  A  large  number  of  officers  received 
titles,  decorations,  money,  and  property.  The 
Peace  of  Pressburg  was  soon  concluded.  Austria 
lost  Venice,  which  went  to  Italy,  and  Tyrol,  which 
was  given  to  Bavaria.  The  Emperor  Alexander, 
who  might  have  been  taken  prisoner  with  his  whole 
army,  was  allowed  to  escape.  This  was  always 
Napoleon's  way  with  the  Tsar. 

It  rarely  happens  in  descriptions  of  battles 
that  one  can  get  more  than  a  series  of  pictures 
of  the  collision  of  various  arms,  the  heroic  attack 
or  the  stubborn  resistance  of  the  infantry  that 
decides  the  important  position.  To  see  a  battle 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  81 

as  a  connected  whole,  with  plan  opposed  to  plan, 
and  with  the  various  scenes  subordinated  to  the 
general  idea  and  the  better  calculation  that 
eventually  leads  to  victory,  is  not  easy  for  any 
but  a  military  expert.  Nevertheless,  I  have 
succeeded  in  making  a  sort  of  survey  of  some  of 
Napoleon's  battles.  It  is  not  the  case  in  all 
battles  that  one  side  steadily  wins  ;  that  all  the 
forces  are  tried,  yet,  taking  all  things  together, 
the  superiority  is  on  the  one  side  throughout.  In 
some  battles  the  victory  comes  suddenly  in  the 
middle  of  the  fight.  In  a  moment  one  side  utterly 
loses,  and  good  solid  troops  are  rendered  quite 
useless  at  a  stroke.  Austerlitz  was  a  battle  of 
this  kind.  During  the  two  hours  when  Kutusow 
attempted  with  his  entire  army  to  regain  the 
heights  of  Pratzen,  the  struggle  was  equal  in  a 
sense,  and  on  neither  side  was  there  any  perceptible 
increase  of  success.  It  was  as  if  a  steel  rod 
were  strained  more  and  more  until  it  suddenly 
broke,  and  the  destruction  was  complete.  Troops 
like  the  invincible  Russian  Imperial  Guard 
suddenly  became  of  no  more  use  than  recruits. 

I  see  the  same  thing  in  a  different  way  at 
Marengo.  Throughout  the  whole  day  the 
Austrians  drove  back  Napoleon's  right  wing  and 
centre  further  and  further.  In  the  afternoon  he 
was  in  such  a  position  that  everybody  thought  it 
had  been  a  steady  defeat  from  morning  to  evening. 
But  Bonaparte  saw  the  strain  on  the  steel  bar. 
Firmly  and  judiciously  he  prevented  the  break 
until  Desaix  was  at  hand.  Then  the  bent  steel 


82  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

flew  suddenly  back  upon  the  Austrians,  and  they 
were  defeated.  It  was  not  merely  that  he  had 
got  reinforcements  ;  the  inexplicable  moment  of 
collapse  had  arrived.  There  was  no  retreat  and 
no  loss,  but  flight  and  capture. 

It  was  the  same  at  Waterloo.  It  is  always 
said  that  Wellington  was  beaten  strategically. 
Napoleon  had  strained  the  steel  bar  with  his 
forces  more  than  ever.  The  issue  of  the  fight 
vacillated,  and  it  was  impossible  to  tell  on  which 
side  the  bar  would  spring.  Napoleon  alone  knew 
that  it  was  an  hour  too  late.  And  when,  not 
only  Marshal  Grouchy  did  not  appear,  but  Bliicher 
came  instead,  the  bar  sprang  back  at  once  and 
broke,  but  in  the  reverse  direction,  and  Wellington 
won  his  great  victory. 

The  Prussian  campaign  began  immediately 
after  the  Austrian.  Metternich  was  at  Berlin  in 
1805,  and  made  the  greatest  efforts  to  bring 
Prussia  into  the  alliance,  but  Frederic  William 
remained  firm.  Now,  however,  a  year  later  and 
after  the  battle  of  Austerlitz,  he  opened  the 
unfortunate  war  that  brought  Prussia  to  the  verge 
of  destruction.  Without  making  any  declaration 
of  war,  the  Prussians  moved  into  Saxony,  just 
as  the  Austrians  had  invaded  Bavaria  in  the 
previous  year.  It  is  a  fact  that  on  the  26th  of 
September,  1806,  Napoleon,  with  his  finger  on 
the  map  at  Paris,  foretold  the  destruction  of  the 
Prussian  army  about  October  15th.  It  took 
place  on  October  14th.  He  then  settled  that 
Clarke  should  be  Governor  at  Berlin  at  the  end 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS     83 

of  October.  When  Daru  asked  permission  to 
take  the  treasury  with  them,  the  Emperor  replied  : 
*  It  will  do  if  the  treasurer  comes.'  He  took  only 
24,000  francs  with  him  on  the  campaign  in  Saxony. 
The  vanquished  must  pay  the  bill. 

The  Imperial  Guard  at  once  left  Paris,  and 
went  eastwards  in  post-chaises.  Napoleon  crossed 
the  Rhine  on  October  1st,  1806,  and  set  up  his 
head-quarters  at  Bamberg.  Here  he  collected  his 
troops  under  the  seven  marshals,  Bernadotte, 
Lannes,  Davoust,  Ney,  Soult,  Augereau,  and 
Lefebvre.  Murat  led  the  cavalry.  It  was  an 
unfortunate  beginning  for  the  Prussians  when  the 
young  and  promising  prince  of  the  royal  house, 
Louis,  was  cut  down  by  a  French  hussar  in  a 
skirmish  at  Saalfeld,  a  few  days  before  the  decisive 
battles  of  Jena  and  Auerstadt.  However,  the 
King  of  Prussia  and  his  generals  were  so  sure  of 
victory  that  they  had  taken  up  their  position 
between  Gotha,  Erfurt,  and  Weimar,  while 
Napoleon  came  from  Gera,  or  eastwards.  Thus 
the  armies  were  not  face  to  face.  The  Germans 
had  the  Rhine  in  their  rear  and  the  French  the 
Elbe,  with  an  open  field  to  Berlin  and  Dresden. 
The  Prussians  had  themselves  chosen  Saxony  for 
the  fight.  But  it  was  the  army  of  Frederic  the 
Great,  invincible  in  the  opinion  of  contemporaries, 
and  led  by  the  generals  and  pupils  of  the  famous 
king.  We  have  only  to  think  of  such  names  as 
Kalkreuth,  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  Mollendorf, 
Schmettau,  Hohenlohe,  Ruchel,  and  Bliicher,  with 
230,000  stout  bronze-soldiers  from  Potsdam,  well 
armed  and  well  drilled. 


84  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Napoleon  again  sent  one  of  his  letters  from 
monarch  to  monarch — this  time  to  the  King  of 
Prussia : 

4  If  I  were  a  novice  in  the  art  of  war  and 
had  to  fear  the  changes  of  fortune  on  the  field, 
this  letter  to  your  Majesty  would  be  senseless. 
But  your  Majesty  will  be  beaten,  and  without  a 
shadow  of  doubt  you  will  put  an  end  to  your 
own  peaceful  existence  and  the  lives  of  your 
subjects.' 

Napoleon's  royal  brother,  Frederic  William, 
sent  no  reply  to  the  letter.  He  and  Queen  Louisa 
were  with  the  army.  The  army  was  in  two 
divisions,  one  of  which,  consisting  of  70,000  men, 
led  by  the  King  and  the  Duke  of  Brunswick, 
marched  toward  Auerstadt ;  the  rest,  under  Prince 
Hohenlohe,  went  toward  Jena.  The  two  places 
are  about  five  miles  from  each  other.  Napoleon 
had  made  such  good  use  of  the  night  on  October 
14th,  that  his  troops  were  ready  for  the  attack  in 
the  early  morning,  and  just  at  the  points  where 
the  Prussians  least  expected  them.  The  first  to 
move  was  General  Suchet.  He  opened  the  battle 
in  the  early  hours,  while  the  mist  still  lay  thick 
on  the  fields.  With  him  were  Generals  Wedel  and 
Claparede,  whose  division  had  distinguished  itself 
at  Austerlitz  in  the  preceding  year. 

They  met  with  a  long  and  stubborn  and 
desperate  resistance.  Marshals  Soult  and  Lannes 
attacked  with  all  their  forces.  Ney  came  up 
during  the  fight  with  two  divisions.  Napoleon 
sent  forward  the  reserve,  and  Murat  threw  himself 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  85 

on  the  enemy,  as  usual,  with  the  whole  of  his 
cavalry.  The  Prussians  gave  way  slowly  at  first, 
with  the  utmost  coolness  and  the  regularity  of 
the  parade  ground.  The  infantry  formed  one 
square  after  another.  But  when  five  squares 
were  completely  ridden  down,  one  after  another, 
by  the  French  hussars  and  curassiers,  the  Prussians 
gradually  broke  into  dangerous  disorder.  Their 
cavalry  began  to  fail  before  Soult's  solid  columns, 
and  retreated  in  the  direction  of  Weimar. 

At  this  moment  the  reinforcements  that 
Prince  Hohenlohe  expected  came  up.  General 
Riichel's  corps,  consisting  of  26  battalions  and 
20  squadrons,  reached  the  fighting  line.  The 
struggle  now  became  extremely  fierce,  but  in 
less  than  an  hour  the  whole  corps  melted  away 
under  the  repeated  attacks  that  Napoleon  showered 
on  it.  In  the  end  there  was  nothing  left  of  *  the 
army  of  Frederic  the  Great.'  The  older  art  of 
war  had  measured  itself  against  the  new,  and 
utterly  lost.  The  revolution  was  so  great  from 
the  military  point  of  view  that  contemporaries 
were  more  amazed  than  they  were  at  any  other  of 
Napoleon's  victories.  The  defeat  was  not  in 
itself  greater  than  many  others  in  respect  of  the 
direct  losses  of  men  and  material ;  but  the  military 
and  moral  effect  of  it  was  crushing  at  the  time 
for  the  losers,  if  instructive  for  the  future. 

While  Napoleon  was  fighting  at  Jena — on  the 
same  day,  October  14th — Marshal  Davoust 
encountered  the  division  of  the  Prussian  army 
that  was  led  by  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  to  which 


86  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  King  himself  was  attached.  With  Davoust 
were  Generals  Gudin,  Friant,  and  Morand,  whose 
distinguished  divisions  nearly  always  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  army  corps  that  he  commanded. 
He  had,  however,  not  much  more  than  a  third  of 
the  forces  opposed  to  him,  and  he  found  himself 
in  a  very  dangerous  position.  Marshal  Bernadotte 
was  quite  near  to  him,  but  he  acted  as  if  he  did 
not  hear  the  guns.  He  even  took  with  him 
some  regiments  of  dragoons  that  did  not  properly 
belong  to  his  corps ;  his  real  reason  being  that  he 
did  not  want  to  share  the  honours  with  Davoust, 
and  would  have  liked  to  see  him  beaten  by  the 
Prussians,  which  might  very  well  have  happened. 

The  danger  to  Davoust's  corps  was  at  its 
height  about  six  in  the  evening.  He  himself  sat 
on  his  horse,  serious  and  grave,  as  he  always  was, 
in  the  midst  of  the  frightful  turmoil.  Already  a 
ball  had  carried  off  his  hat.  He  once  more  sent 
a  messenger — one  of  his  adjutants,  the  brave 
Romeuf,  who  afterwards  fell  at  Borodino — to 
Bernadotte,  imploring  him  to  come  to  his  help. 
Davoust — who  knew  him — even  offered  him  the 
supreme  command.  But  Bernadotte  marched  on, 
though  he  had  only  one  turn  to  make  to  reach 
the  battlefield.  Even  in  the  end,  when  Davoust 
had  won  the  battle  with  his  unflinching  coolness 
and  superior  art,  and  when  his  men  were  so  tired 
that  they  could  hardly  stand  on  their  legs, 
Bernadotte  would  not  throw  himself  on  the 
demoralised  Prussians,  although  he  was  near 
enough  for  his  and  Davoust's  soldiers  to  see  each 
other. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  87 

It  is  true  that  there  was  a  deep  personal 
enmity  between  the  two  marshals,  but  the  whole 
army  and  all  the  officers  were  enraged  against 
Bernadotte.  The  Emperor  used  to  say  afterwards : 
*  If  I  had  sent  Bernadotte  before  a  court-martial 
at  that  time,  he  would  certainly  have  been  shot 
for  his  conduct.'  It  is  said  that  Napoleon  had 
the  decree  in  his  hand,  but  tore  it  up  at  the 
last  moment  out  of  consideration  for  D6sir6e, 
Bernadotte's  wife,  who  had  had  some  leaning  to 
Napoleon  in  her  younger  days. 

Davoust's  victory  at  Auerstadt  on  October 
14th,  1806,  is  always  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  in  the  annals  of  the  French  army.  The 
Emperor  made  him  Duke  of  AuerstSdt,  and  gave 
him  splendid  gifts.  Davoust  was  of  the  old 
nobility,  and  he  had  known  the  Bonapartes  since 
the  military  school  at  Brienne.  He  served  under 
the  generals  of  the  Republic,  but  was  excluded 
from  the  service  because  he  was  a  noble.  He 
afterwards  became  one  of  Napoleon's  most  reliable 
leaders,  training  and  keeping  his  men  together 
with  a  firm  and  hard  hand,  so  that  the  third 
army  corps  was  a  model  body. 

The  losses  of  the  Prussians  in  the  two  battles 
were  enormous.  Davoust  alone  took  114  guns, 
while  he  himself  had  only  44.  About  50,000  men 
fell  or  were  made  prisoners,  and  he  captured 
flags  and  supplies  of  all  sorts.  Amongst  the 
prisoners  there  were  6,000  Saxons  with  their 
officers.  Napoleon  had  the  officers  brought  before 
him  at  Weimar,  He  told  them  that  it  was  one 


88  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

object  of  the  campaign  to  prevent  the  incorporation 
of  Saxony  into  Prussia.  He  then  sent  them  on 
parole  to  Dresden,  and  entrusted  to  them  a 
proclamation  in  which  he  posed  as  Saxony's 
protector.  This  was  a  finely  calculated  intro- 
duction to  the  intimacy  he  gradually  formed  with 
the  Saxon  court  and  the  later  king  of  Saxony. 

The  veterans  of  Frederic  the  Great  were 
beaten,  but  most  of  them  fought  to  the  death. 
The  defeat  was  still  further  embittered  for  Prussia 
as  it  meant  the  extinction  of  so  many  great  names. 
The  famous  Duke  of  Brunswick  had  both  eyes 
shot  out,  and  he  died  shortly  afterwards.  Field- 
marshal  Mollendorf  and  General  •  lieutenant 
Schmettau  were  fatally  wounded.  Prince  Henry 
of  Prussia  and  the  Prince  of  Orange,  afterwards 
King  of  Holland,  were  wounded,  and  so  were 
General  Riichel  and  others.  Frederic  William, 
always  moderate,  was  content  with  a  fall  from 
his  horse,  but  he  very  nearly  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  French  horsemen. 

An  armistice  was  asked,  but  Napoleon  at 
once  replied  that  he  would  only  treat  with  them 
at  Berlin.  He  assumed  a  hard  and  unpleasant 
attitude  toward  Frederic  William,  whom  he 
despised,  and  later  toward  Queen  Louisa,  whom  he 
could  not  endure.  It  was  quite  a  different  matter 
when  he  was  dealing  with  Alexander  the  First. 
A  few  days  after  Jena,  General  Kalkreuth,  another 
of  Frederic  the  Great's  first  generals,  was 
annihilated  by  Marshal  Soult.  Bernadotte  won 
a  victory  at  Halle  ;  and  they  went  on  from  battle 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  89 

to  battle,  the  unfortunate  queen  having  to  fly 
from  town  to  town  as  far  as  Kiistrin. 

Prince  Hohenlohe  had  to  surrender  to  Murat 
with  his  whole  army  at  Prentzlau.  As  prisoners 
of  war,  16,000  foot  and  six  regiments  of  cavalry  of 
the  best  soldiers  in  Prussia,  with  60  guns,  and  40 
flags,  had  to  pass  before  the  French  lines.  Stettin, 
which  was  then  a  strong  fortress,  surrendered  to 
the  brave  cavalry-general  Lasalle,  who  attacked 
it  at  the  head  of  a  few  squadrons.  Davoust  took 
Kiistrin.  In  the  end  Bliicher  alone  remained,  and 
he  retreated  before  the  advancing  French  with 
the  remnants  of  the  fine  army,  and  established 
himself  at  Liibeck.  Three  marshals — Soult, 
Bernadotte,  and  Murat — went  after  him.  Bliicher 
contested  every  foot  of  the  ground  in  Liibeck. 
They  fought  in  the  fortifications,  at  the  gates,  and 
afterwards  in  the  houses.  Every  street  had  to 
be  stormed  and  taken,  but  after  two  days  fighting 
Bliicher  had  to  surrender,  with  eleven  generals, 
500  officers,  60  flags,  artillery,  and  supplies — all 
that  was  left  after  the  catastrophes  at  Jena  and 
Auerstadt. 

On  the  following  day  Magdeburg  fell,  and 
then  there  was  nothing  left  in  Prussia  to  fight 
with.  Meantime  the  French  had  set  up  their 
head- quarters  at  Potsdam.  Marshals  Lannes, 
Bessieres,  and  Lefebvre,  were  there  with  the 
Guard,  and  General  Bourcier  erected  a  large 
cavalry  depot  there.  The  town  was  long  held  by 
the  French. 


90  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

On  October  27th  Napoleon  rode  with  the 
Guard  through  the  triumphal  arch  that  had  been 
raised  to  the  memory  of  Frederic  the  Great  at 
Berlin.  The  campaign  with  Prussia  proper  was 
now  at  an  end,  but  as  Russia  came  forth  as  the 
ally  and  deliverer  of  Prussia,  the  war  had  to 
continue,  and  the  French  armies  gaily  made  then- 
way  eastwards  towards  Warsaw.  During  the 
following  campaign  the  Emperor  remained  with 
the  army,  and  spent  the  winter  in  the  eastern 
provinces  of  Prussia.  From  his  head-quarters  he 
ruled  his  entire  empire,  and  kept  his  eye  on 
everything,  particularly  Paris.  Amongst  other 
things  during  the  winter,  he  worked  out  the  plan 
of  a  monumental  structure  at  Paris,  which  was 
to  have  the  inscription :  *  To  the  soldiers  of 
Napoleon's  grand  army.'  In  it  the  heroes  of  all 
his  campaigns  were  to  be  named  on  tablets  of 
white  marble,  and  those  who  fell  on  the  field  were 
to  be  inscribed  in  gold.  The  Madeleine  church  in 
its  present  form  was  the  ultimate  outcome  of 
his  plan. 

Another  task  that  engaged  him  was  his  great 
plan  of  blockading  the  continent  against  England. 
It  was,  perhaps,  a  larger  plan  than  he  suspected, 
and  at  all  events  it  proved  too  big  for  him  in  the 
end.  He  also  made  the  Elector  of  Saxony  king ; 
he  was  the  only  one  among  the  legitimate  princes 
who  was  a  friend  of  Napoleon. 

In  the  early  days  of  February,  1807,  there 
was  a  series  of  conflicts  with  the  Russians,  who 
were  commanded  by  General  Bennigsen,  together 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  91 

with  the  remaining  fighting  forces  of  Prussia. 
The  French  broke  out  of  their  winter  quarters, 
where  they  had  spent  a  hard  winter  in  the  midst 
of  snow  and  morasses  and  mud ;  though  it  was 
nothing  to  compare,  as  some  may  imagine,  with 
the  cold  of  Russia  or  the  fearful  snow-storms  of 
the  eastern  plains.  On  February  8th  the  two 
armies  faced  each  other  at  Eylau,  at  a  distance  of 
half  a  cannon  shot.  The  Russians  had  the  better 
position,  and  were  numerically  superior.  It  was 
very  bad  weather.  The  snow  was  falling  heavily 
and  the  French  had  the  wind  in  their  faces. 
Bennigsen  opened  the  battle  with  a  terrific  gun- 
fire. The  Russians,  taught  by  Napoleon,  had 
now  a  large  and  excellent  artillery.  Napoleon 
felt  that  it  was  a  critical  day.  He  spared  nothing, 
even  sending  forward  the  valuable  guns  of  the 
Guard. 

Marshal  Augereau  had  to  lead  forward  his 
corps  at  the  beginning  of  the  battle  in  face  of  the 
heavy  Russian  fire.  But  just  as  the  great  masses 
were  set  in  motion  they  were  lashed  by  a 
particularly  heavy  and  violent  snowstorm,  coming 
right  in  the  faces  of  the  advancing  French. 
Augereau' s  columns  lost  their  bearings,  and  found 
themselves  in  the  middle  of  the  Russian  right  wing, 
which  was  commanded  by  Generals  Tutschukoff 
and  Doctorow.  The  marshal  himself  was  seriously 
wounded  and  had  to  be  carried  from  the  field, 
and  his  fine  corps  was  routed  and  almost 
annihilated. 


92  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

As  soon  as  they  could  see  their  way  again, 
it  was  clear  to  Napoleon  that  the  whole  army 
was  put  in  a  critical  condition  through  Augereau's 
mishap.  He  ordered  Murat  and  Bessieres  to 
collect  70  squadrons  and  throw  them  against  the 
enemy's  centre.  The  immense  body  of  horse 
rushed  forward  and  disappeared  in  the  half-lost 
battle.  Their  attack  at  Eylau  has  become  famous 
for  all  time.  The  Russian  cavalry  was  routed, 
and  the  solid  regiments  of  infantry  were  trodden 
down.  At  the  head  was  a  man  who  had  the 
highest  repute  in  the  cavalry  after  Murat — General 
d'Hautpoul.  When  the  battle  began  he  was  some 
distance  from  Eylau.  But  he  at  once  obeyed 
Napoleon's  old  general  order,  always  to  march 
toward  the  guns.  As  soon  as  he  heard  them,  he 
turned  his  curassiers  and  raced  to  Eylau. 

Bernadotte,  who  was  also  not  far  off,  behaved 
again  as  he  had  done  at  Auerstadt.  D'Hautpoul 
begged  and  implored  him  to  return  and  join  in 
the  battle,  but  he  would  neither  hear  nor  see.  He 
continued  the  march  that  had  been  directed  to 
him — not  because  he  was  afraid :  it  was  not 
possible  for  any  one  about  Napoleon  to  be  afraid— 
but  the  Prince  of  Ponte  Corvo  was  so  ambitious 
that  he  would  not  have  minded  seeing  one  of  the 
others  defeated,  even  if  it  was  Napoleon — perhaps, 
especially  Napoleon. 

The  brave  d'Hautpoul  rushed  with  his 
curassiers  into  the  half-lost  battle,  and  made  a 
great  breach  through  nearly  the  whole  Russian 
army.  He  was  brought  back  wounded  and  torn, 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  93 

and  died  a  few  days  afterwards.  Napoleon  had 
given  him  the  grand  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour 
and  ample  endowments  after  Austerlitz,  and  it 
was  the  common  opinion  that  General  d'Hautpoul 
was  well  on  the  way  to  become  a  marshal. 
Napoleon  had  a  statue  of  him  made  from  24  of 
the  guns  taken  at  Eylau.  It  is  still  standing 
somewhere  at  Paris — I  do  not  remember  where. 
But  I  recollect  well  a  large  equestrian  statue  of 
Bernadotte  that  is  still  seen  in  Christiania. 

After  the  fierce  attack  of  the  cavalry  had 
broken  twice  through  the  Russian  lines,  they 
concentrated  for  the  third  time.  They  now  stood 
firm,  and  could  not  be  shaken  again.  The  fight 
continued  all  day  with  extraordinary  spirit,  but 
General  Bennigsen  established  his  position  in  the 
town  of  Eylau.  The  Prussian  General  L'Estocq 
came  up  with  some  reinforcements  in  the  afternoon 
and  the  battle  was  left  undecided  when  darkness 
set  in.  Marshal  Soult  urged  Napoleon  to  remain 
on  the  battlefield.  About  eight  o'clock  the  camp 
fires  were  lit  along  the  whole  line  in  order  to 
mark  the  fact  that  the  French  occupied  the  field. 
Bennigsen,  however,  retreated  during  the  night. 
He  may  have  suffered  more  than  Napoleon,  who 
had  a  good  many  reserve  troops  to  rely  on.  But 
the  battle  had  run  in  such  a  way  that  both  sides 
could  claim  the  victory,  as  they  really  did.  At 
all  events  neither  side  was  defeated. 

A  number  of  high  officers  had  fallen.  Sixteen 
generals  were  lost  on  the  French  side  including 


94  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Corbineau,  who  fell  at  the  Emperor's  side. 
Heudelet  received  a  ball  through  the  middle  of 
the  body,  but  he  recovered.  Defiance  and 
Desjardins  fell.  So  did  General  Dahlmann,  who 
commanded  the  mounted  rifles,  and  fell  with 
d'Hautpoul  in  the  great  cavalry  attack.  The  loss 
was  also  very  great  amongst  the  soldiers  and 
inferior  officers.  The  battle  of  Eylau  was  always 
spoken  of  afterwards  in  grave  tones.  It  was  the 
most  sanguinary  that  was  ever  seen  in  the 
Emperor's  campaigns.  Napoleon  himself  spent 
a  good  deal  of  the  following  night  on  the  field, 
helping  the  wounded  and  directing  the  burial  of 
the  enormous  number  of  corpses. 

The  Emperor's  bulletin  on  the  battle  of 
Eylau  caused  great  excitement  at  Paris.  He 
made  no  effort  to  conceal  his  great  losses  and  the 
doubtful  issue.  After  Eylau  the  white  uniforms 
were  abandoned.  There  were  a  number  of  white 
regiments  in  the  army,  dating  from  the  time  of 
the  kings  ;  but  it  was  too  terrible  at  Eylau  to  see 
the  red  blood  pouring  over  the  fine  white  uniforms. 

During  the  battle  the  Emperor  himself  was 
in  serious  danger,  partly  because  he  recklessly 
exposed  himself  to  it,  and  partly  because  of  the 
close  proximity  of  the  two  armies.  Berthier  had 
the  greatest  difficulty  in  keeping  him  out  of  the 
most  dangerous  spots.  The  Emperor  was  as  cool 
and  collected  as  usual,  though  the  generals 
could  not  conceal  the  fact  that  they  felt  the  whole 
issue  to  be  hanging  by  a  single  thread.  General 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  95 

Dorsenne  commanded  the  section  of  the  Guard 
that  was  nearest  to  the  Emperor,  and  tried  to 
protect  him  as  much  as  possible.  He  was,  like 
most  of  the  officers  of  the  Guard,  a  fine  tall  man, 
with  some  care  for  personal  appearance.  His 
men  also  were  picked  and  they  were  just  as  proud 
of  their  general  as  he  was  content  with  them 
himself.  In  the  middle  of  the  battle,  at  the  height 
of  the  turmoil,  General  Dorsenne  suddenly  caught 
sight  of  a  division  of  Prussian  cavalry  that  seemed 
about  to  storm  the  little  hill  where  the  Emperor  and 
his  attendants  were  standing.  He  called  his  men, 
and  quick  as  lightning  formed  a  square  round  the 
Emperor  with  the  Guard.  The  soldiers  stood  with 
arms  presented,  but  heard  no  command  to  fire 
or  lower  the  bayonet.  General  Dorsenne  sat 
erect  and  proud  in  his  saddle,  looking  at  the 
approaching  horsemen.  It  was  enough  for  him 
that  his  grenadiers  stood  like  a  wall  round  the 
Emperor.  In  fact,  when  the  Russians  drew  near 
and  saw  the  grim  faces  of  the  famous  Imperial 
Guard  with  the  high  bear-skin  helmets,  standing 
shoulder  to  shoulder  like  an  iron  frame,  the  troop 
instinctively  turned  aside  and  rode  away.  The 
Emperor  smiled  at  Dorsenne. 

On  February  16th  General  Savary  had  his 
great  day  as  a  soldier.  He  was  generally  employed 
in  a  political  capacity,  as  an  envoy  or  in  the 
police.  As  a  friend  of  Napoleon's  youth,  who 
could  be  implicitly  trusted,  he  had  often  to  do 
things  that  brought  him  the  contempt  and  hatred 


96  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

of  others.  At  this  time,  however,  he  had 
temporary  command  of  the  fifth  army  corps, 
during  the  illness  of  Marshal  Lannes,  and  on  the 
16th  he  succeeded  in  defeating  the  Russian 
General  Essen  after  a  stiff  fight  at  Ostrolenka. 
He  had  with  him  the  divisions  of  Suchet,  Gazan, 
and  Reille.  He  was  given  the  grand  cordon  of 
the  Legion  of  Honour  and  an  award  of  20,000 
francs  a  year,  which  had  been  set  free  by  General 
d'Hautpoul's  death  at  Eylau.  He  afterwards 
became  the  Duke  of  Rovigo.  General  Ordener 
was  made  a  Count  after  the  battle  of  Ostrolenka. 

After  a  long  and  spirited  siege  the  elderly 
Marshal  Lefebvre  took  the  fortress  of  Dantzig. 
He  had  with  him  the  first  two  engineer-generals 
of  the  army,  Lariboisiere  and  Chasseloup,  and  it 
was  really  these  who  conducted  the  siege.  The 
marshal  was  always  for  storming,  and  they  had 
the  greatest  difficulty  in  restraining  him  until  they 
were  ready.  In  the  end  General  Kalkreuth  had 
to  surrender  Dantzig  with  large  stores  of  arms, 
ammunition,  and  corn.  Lefebvre  was  afterwards 
Duke  of  Dantzig. 

A  number  of  smaller  battles  were  won  by  the 
French,  and  at  last  the  great  battle  of  Friedland 
put  an  end  to  the  war  with  Russia.  The  Tsar, 
like  the  King  of  Prussia  before,  had  no  army  to 
fight  with.  Napoleon  fought  the  battle  of  Fried- 
land  on  the  anniversary  of  Marengo,  the  14th  oi 
June.  It  did  not  begin  until  five  in  the  afternoon, 
and  was  a  complete  victory — one  of  the  most 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  97 

thorough  infantry  victories,  won  by  the  bayonet, 
the  cavalry  afterwards  swooping  like  hawks  on 
the  fugitives.  This  time  the  Emperor  himself 
was  on  the  heels  of  the  monarchs.  When  they 
reached  Tilsit,  the  bridge  across  the  Niemen  was 
still  burning  by  which  they  had  saved  themselves 
and  the  remnants  of  their  armies.  The  booty  was 
enormous.  At  Konigsberg,  for  instance,  they 
found  160,000  new  English  weapons,  that  had 
not  yet  been  unloaded. 

The  Emperors  Napoleon  and  Alexander  met 
eventually  at  Tilsit.  They  were  daily  together  for 
a  whole  fortnight,  discussing  political  matters. 
Napoleon  wanted  to  have  a  free  hand  in  regard 
to  Spain,  and  Alexander  in  regard  to  Finland. 
He  treated  the  Tsar  with  great  moderation,  in 
fact  with  a  consideration  that  was  foreign  to  his 
nature,  and  at  his  request,  restored  to  Prussia 
sufficient  territory  to  keep  it  in  existence.  On 
the  other  hand  Alexander  recognised  the  three 
kings  Joseph,  Lucien,  and  Jerome,  and  the  King 
of  Saxony  as  Grand-duke  of  Warsaw.  Finally, 
he  joined  the  continental  blockade  ;  but  he  never 
seriously  meant  a  single  word  that  fell  from  his 
lips.  However,  Napoleon,  who  could  at  the  time 
have  divided  the  world  into  two  parts,  was  glad  to 
secure  the  recognition  and  the  friendship  of  the 
man ;  he  considered  that  this  was  all  that  was 
wanting  to  his  power. 

The  armies  then  returned  in  triumph  to 
France,  where  all  the  towns,  with  Paris  at  their 

G 


98  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

head,  received  with  the  utmost  hospitality  the 
brave  soldiers  who  had  been  away  for  ten  months. 
The  Emperor  made  a  generous  distribution  of 
crosses  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  and  awards,  but 
with  strict  regard  to  justice,  which  gave  an 
increased  value  to  every  gift. 


CHAPTER   III 

The  Emperor  was  now  quite  at  home  in  every 
part  of  Europe.  He  was  familiar  with  all  the 
castles  of  Italy  and  the  continent.  Every  day 
the  officers  and  servants  of  his  court  were  brought 
before  him ;  and  when  his  travelling  carriage 
galloped  over  the  drawbridge  at  night,  the  torch- 
bearer  stood  at  the  steps,  his  own  officers  flung 
open  the  door  of  the  carriage  and  received  him, 
and  the  little  man  in  the  grey  coat  walked  quietly 
in  the  torch  light  up  the  broad  steps  ;  the  aged 
and  powdered  servants  of  the  castle  standing  by 
with  candelabra  in  their  trembling  hands.  He 
strode  through  the  well-lit  halls  to  his  own  rooms, 
was  relieved  of  his  clothes  by  his  own  valet,  and 
flung  himself  into  his  boiling  bath  as  if  he  were  at 
home. 

Everything  that  belonged  to  his  person  was 
of  the  finest  quality,  arranged  most  punctiliously, 
and  in  his  own  grand  style.  His  carriage  horses 
were  picked  animals,  and  arranged  in  relays  of 


100  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

three  pairs  each  with  an  outrider.  When  he  had 
to  travel  20  kilometres  (12J  miles)  six  relays  of 
horses  were  arranged  on  the  route,  so  that  he 
only  went  a  short  distance  with  the  same  horses. 
He  generally  went  at  a  sort  of  gallop,  though  one 
must  remember  what  kind  of  roads  were  in 
existence  a  hundred  years  ago  and  the  heaviness 
of  the  carriages.  There  was  no  question  of  reading 
or  studying  maps  in  the  carriage.  Nevertheless, 
there  were  books,  writing  materials,  maps,  and 
field  glasses  with  each  relay.  Every  object  was 
marked  with  the  number  of  the  relay,  so  that  it 
was  easy  to  arrange  in  the  night  before  a  journey, 
without  anyone  knowing  of  it. 

He  had,  in  fact,  plenty  to  think  about. 
When  he  travelled  eastwards,  he  reflected  on  his 
campaigns.  Along  the  route  he  received  couriers, 
or  there  might  be  a  marshal  with  his  staff  at  a 
prearranged  point  to  confer  with  him.  Day  and 
night  he  galloped  on  through  villages  and  dark 
woods.  His  coach  thundered  along  the  narrow 
streets,  and  the  light  of  his  torches  flashed  like 
lightning  across  the  narrow  windows.  '  There  he 
is  again,'  the  Germans  said,  as  they  shrank 
underneath  the  bed-clothes.  He  sat  confidently 
in  his  stout  carriage,  his  escort  rattling  along  at 
the  side  with  gleaming  sabres  and  pistols. 

When  he  went  westwards,  he  considered  above 
all  things  what  else  he  could  do  for  Paris,  which 
was  never  out  of  his  thoughts.  He  mentally 
decided  on  fresh  distinctions,  promotions,  and 
gifts  for  his  men.  Wherever  he  went  he  kept  his 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  MEtfiODS  ;KH 


eye  on  the  crown  property  and  the  public  domains. 
He  accumulated  property  that  he  could  share  as 
he  pleased  amongst  his  marshals  and  dukes.  It 
is  difficult  to  appreciate  the  munificence  of  the 
man  in  his  awards.  He  never  loaded  favourites 
and  courtiers  with  wealth,  as  foolish  princes  do  ; 
still  less  dare  women  interfere  in  such  matters. 
His  gifts  were  a  manly  recognition  of  manly 
strength  and  courage,  which  never  escaped  his 
attention  —  from  the  marshal  to  the  little  drummer 
who  ran  out  in  his  shirt  and  beat  the  alarm. 

At  one  time  Marshal  Davoust,  Duke  of 
Auerstadt  and  Prince  of  Eckmiihl  had  an  annual 
income  of  1,800,000  francs  (£72,000)  from  his 
offices  and  domains.  However,  this  did  not  last 
many  years.  In  1814  all  property  was  lost  that 
lay  outside  the  strict  limits  of  France.  But  when 
we  recollect  what  an  income  of  £72,000  meant  a 
hundred  years  ago,  we  can  realise  how  money 
circulated  about  the  person  of  Napoleon.  And 
Davoust  was  anything  but  a  favourite  !  There 
was  nothing  between  the  Emperor  and  him  to 
compare  with  Napoleon's  feeling  for  Duroc, 
Lannes,  Junot,  or  Marmont.  The  awards  to 
Davoust  were  merely  a  recognition  of  the  qualities 
that  made  him  an  indispensable  and  invincible 
leader. 

Napoleon's  princely  titles  were  not  empty 
ones  like  those  that  victorious  monarchs  of  our 
own  time  bestow  with  silken  sashes.  Most  of  his 
officers  and  chief  servants  received  with  their 
titles  incomes  that  enabled  them  to  keep  good 


102  NA?OLEQN'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

house  at  Paris.  We  still  find  amongst  the  highest 
French  aristocracy  many  of  the  princely  names 
that  were  originally  given  to  Napoleon's  soldiers. 
In  point  of  fact,  it  is  difficult  to  identify  sometimes 
the  titles  that  cover  the  names  of  distinguished 
soldiers  and  statesmen.  Murat  was  first  Grand- 
duke  of  Cleve  and  Berg,  and  afterwards  King  of 
Naples.  Berthier  was  the  reigning  Prince  of 
Neuchatel.  Ponte  Corvo  and  Benevento  also 
were  real  and  independent  principalities,  and  were 
given  to  Bernadotte  and  Talleyrand  and  their 
heirs. 

In  1806  Napoleon  created  22  principalities 
out  of  the  annexed  territories,  such  as  Venice, 
the  hereditary  title  bringing  with  it  five-tenths 
of  the  revenue  of  the  respective  district.  Many 
of  the  marshals  received  duchies  of  this  character 
— Soult  was  Duke  of  Dalmatia,  Bessieres  of  Istria, 
Victor  of  Belluno,  Moncey  of  Conegliano,  Mortier 
of  Treviso,  Macdonald  of  Tarentum,  Oudinot  of 
Reggio.  Besides  the  marshals  General  Duroc 
became  Duke  of  Friaul,  Maret  of  Bassano,  Savary 
of  Rovigo,  Fouche  of  Otranto,  and  a  Corsican 
relative  of  the  Bonaparte  family,  Arrighi,  a 
courageous  cavalry  general,  was  made  Duke  of 
Padua.  The  best  titles  were  those  that  were  taken 
from  the  battles,  and  designated  the  victors 
throughout  life.  The  aged  Kellermann  was  made 
Duke  of  Valmy ;  Lefebvre,  Duke  of  Dantzig ; 
Massena,  Duke  of  Rivoli  and  Prince  of  Esslingen  ; 
Lannes,  Duke  of  Montebello ;  Ney,  Duke  of 
Elchingen  and  Prince  of  Moskwa  and  Beresina ; 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  103 

Davoust,  Duke  of  Auerstadt  and  Prince  of 
Eckmiihl. 

For  all  these  and  many  others  the  Emperor 
provided  generous  incomes,  either  in  the  form  of 
productive  property,  or,  if  there  was  any  difficulty 
in  this,  in  the  form  of  princely  gifts.  He  kept 
them  all  in  mind,  and  although  he  did  not  like 
them  or  their  wives  to  waste,  he  equally  disliked 
parsimony.  He  wanted  his  men  to  fill  the  space 
vacated  at  the  Revolution,  and  effect  the  transition 
from  France's  older  nobility  to  the  new  society 
that  he  would  create.  He  therefore  surrounded 
himself  with  a  brilliant  circle  at  home  and  abroad. 
Wherever  he  went,  a  court  was  formed  about 
him — it  was  done  for  the  first  time  at  the  chateau 
of  Montebello.  In  every  town  in  Europe  and  in 
the  deserted  castles  his  daily  life  had  the  same 
invariable  tenour  as  at  St.  Cloud  or  Fontainebleau. 

There  was  the  same  regularity  and  continuity 
in  his  work  from  morning  till  night.  Reviews  of 
troops  that  were  off  to  the  war  ;  reorganisation  of 
the  corps  that  returned  suffering  from  the  field ; 
work  in  his  own  cabinet  with  his  secretaries  and 
general-staff  officers  or  with  foreign  envoys.  He 
ate  when  he  pleased  ;  and  he  always  had  something 
good.  Even  in  the  worst  days  in  Russia,  when 
all  the  others  suffered  great  privations,  the 
Emperor  always  had  his  chambertin ;  and  there 
was  always  a  little  meat  or  fowl  at  his  meals. 
He  had  only  to  nod  and  a  small  table  was  spread 
for  him  as  rapidly  as  at  the  Tuileries.  He  used 
to  say  himself  that  it  seemed  to  be  done  by  magic. 


104  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

When  he  was  in  the  field  they  put  a  chicken  to 
roast  every  half-hour,  and  it  often  happened  that 
they  roasted  twelve  before  he  would  eat.  During 
the  fight  his  head  cook  would  make  his  way 
through  the  confusion,  and  bring  the  Emperor 
something  to  eat  and  a  glass  of  wine  on  horseback. 
Although  Napoleon  seemed  to  set  little  store 
on  such  things,  he  was  waited  upon  on  every  side 
with  a  devotion  that  no  other  man  ever  experienced, 
Everything  pertaining  to  his  person  and  his  daily 
life  was  of  the  best  quality  ;  and  wherever  he 
was — at  home  or  abroad — he  lived  like  the  best- 
served  prince  in  Europe.  His  officers  also  were 
well  treated  in  the  first  campaigns  on  the  continent. 
The  highest  of  them  began  to  display  a  certain 
luxury,  but  there  was  no  effeminacy  or  excess. 
It  was  said  of  Junot  alone,  the  Duke  of  Abrantes, 
that  his  prodigality  was  ridiculous ;  that,  for 
instance,  his  carriages  and  his  fine  stables  were 
equal  to  the  Emperor's.  For  the  younger  officers 
the  first  campaigns  to  Vienna  and  Berlin  were 
mere  picnics.  They  knew  that  they  were  going 
out  for  victory  and  promotion,  and  they  reached 
courts  and  circles  where  there  were  no  other  young 
men  besides  themselves,  but  a  large  number  of  the 
finest  ladies,  who  could  not  withstand  the  hand- 
some cavaliers  from  Paris  that  swept  in  like  a 
hurricane  from  the  field,  laughing  and  amorous, 
and  were  off  in  the  morning — perhaps  for  ever. 
The  gay  Lasalle,  the  handsome  Colbert,  Gardanne 
with  the  famous  moustache,  Turenne,  Segur — they 
were  the  greatest  names  the  old  ladies  could 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  105 

imagine,  as  they  blushingly  asked  :  '  How  is  your 
father,  the  Duke  ?' 

The  officers  who  were  not  elegant  enough  for 
these  circles  found  open  houses  and  hunting 
properties,  with  as  much  shooting,  gaiety,  and 
dancing  as  they  wished.  In  the  kitchen  and  the 
cellar  they  found  natives  who  could  serve  them  in 
Parisian  fashion,  and  the  butlers  were  only  too 
pleased  to  produce  for  them  their  master's  old 
French  wine.  When  they  were  garrisoned  in 
large  German  towns,  they  turned  everything 
upside  down  with  their  follies,  infatuated  the 
women  and  drove  the  men  to  despair.  One 
young  general  confided  to  his  German  tailor  that 
the  latest  fashion  at  Paris  was  to  wear  close-fitting 
white  silk  hose  with  red  tassels  at  the  knees  ;  but 
the  tailor  was  not  to  tell  anybody,  because  the 
general  wanted  to  be  the  only  one  in  fashion 
at  the  next  ball.  It  turned  out  as  he  expected. 
The  tailor  had  not  kept  silence,  and  the  general 
and  his  friends  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  one 
local  lion  after  another  enter  the  ballroom  in 
close-fitting  white  silk  hose  with  red  tassels  at 
the  knees. 

The  ordinary  soldier  and  the  lower  officers 
filled  themselves  with  wine  and  German  beer,  and 
pulled  the  maids  about  until  they  fled  in  their 
heavy  skirts.  No  one  could  resist  the  gallants, 
speaking  the  fine  language  of  the  ruling  power, 
with  such  busy  hands  and  so  sure  a  grip  of  the 
figure,  dancing  and  leaping  as  if  they  had  springs 
in  their  legs. 


106  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

The  fights  were  harder  and  the  whole  art  of 
war  more  severe  than  in  Italy.  Nevertheless,  one 
could  long  hear  the  melody  of  a  polka  amid  the 
bustle  of  the  war  in  the  early  German  campaigns  ; 
but  it  gradually  ceased  as  the  settlement  with 
the  princes  became  a  settlement  with  the  people. 
Napoleon  now  knew  that  he  could  beat  the 
Russians  or  the  Germans,  whatever  they  might 
call  themselves.  He  made  little  distinction 
between  the  various  Germanic  peoples.  Their 
racial  differences  were  immaterial  to  him.  Hence, 
when  he  had  taken  the  power  away  from  the 
reigning  prince,  he  chose  auxiliary  troops  from  the 
beaten  army,  gave  them  French  officers,  and  let 
them  march  and  fight  with  his  own  soldiers.  It 
was  fortunate  that  many  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  borderlands  and  almost  all  the  German  officers, 
at  least  those  of  higher  rank,  knew  a  little  French. 
Napoleon  saw  no  danger  in  it,  and  when,  in  1813, 
these  troops  returned  to  their  own  powers — a 
matter  which  can  hardly  surprise  us — Napoleon 
thought  it  the  blackest  treachery. 

He  had  himself  no  strong  f eeling  of  nationality. 
He  was  no  more  French  than  the  Norwegians 
were  Danes  when,  as  did  Tordenskjold,  Rye, 
Helgesen,  and  Schleppegrell,  they  went  to  the 
assistance  of  Denmark.  Nevertheless,  apart  from 
the  fact  that  Norway  was  always  above  every- 
thing else  in  their  minds,  the  long  period  of 
union  had  engendered  a  more  patriotic  feeling 
toward  Denmark  in  Norwegians  than  one  could 
expect  in  an  entirely  Italian  race,  that  had  lived 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  107 

only  a  comparatively  short  time  on  the  island  of 
Corsica,  which  in  turn  was  only  for  a  short  time, 
and  against  its  will,  brought  under  French  rule. 
Napoleon's  national  feeling  was  really  a  natural 
consciousness  that  he  was  the  greatest  son  of  the 
greatest  nation,  and  that  what  he  did  for  other 
nations  was  the  best  they  could  receive,  because 
it  was  French.  He  knew  no  love  of  country 
apart  from  and  beyond  his  own  person.  He  did 
not  know  that  there  is  a  patriotism  beyond  the 
range  of  reason,  a  peculiar  love  of  one's  own 
country  that  would  rather  fight  and  perish  any 
day  than  receive  even  the  best  conditions  from 
the  hand  of  a  foreigner. 

When  there  was  question  of  an  invasion  of 
England,  which  many  think  was  never  seriously 
intended,  Napoleon  faced  all  kinds  of  difficulties 
and  made  all  kinds  of  preparations  on  land  and 
sea.  But  he  did  not  reckon  with  the  English 
nation.  He  was  hardly  able  to  imagine  what 
would  happen  if  an  enemy  were  to  march  upon 
London.  Napoleon's  experience  had  been  built 
up  on  the  level  continent,  where  the  frontiers  of 
the  countries  had  been  shifted  backwards  and 
forwards  in  the  extravagant  wars  of  princes. 
Hence  Spain,  on  which  he  now  threw  himself,  was 
a  fatal  enigma  to  him,  and  he  wore  himself  out 
in  a  fruitless  endeavour  to  solve  it.  The  Spaniards 
had  been  a  hundred  years  before  a  nation  that 
would  rather  die  than  surrender. 

It  is  quite  true  that,  under  exceptionally  bad 
rulers,  Spain  had  made  a  most  foolish  declaration 


108  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

of  war  upon  France  before  the  battle  of  Jena. 
But  it  is  just  as  certain  that,  when  the  Spanish 
pretence  of  war  had  been  at  once  crushed  out, 
Napoleon  interfered  most  unjustly  in  Spanish 
affairs.  His  aim  was  clear  enough.  He  wanted 
the  crown  of  Spain  for  some  member  of  his  own 
family,  and  at  the  same  time  to  reach  through 
Spain  his  worst  enemy,  England,  which  had  made 
a  sort  of  market  of  Portugal. 

General  Junot  was  therefore  ordered  to  march 
peacefully  through  Spain  and  besiege  Lisbon. 
Junot  was  not  a  distinguished  general  and  still 
less  a  diplomatist.  The  important  commission 
was  entrusted  to  him  mainly  because  Napoleon 
knew  that  he  would  carry  out  any  order,  however, 
difficult,  with  the  most  uncalculating  courage. 
He  took  Portugal  in  a  month,  and  reached  Lisbon, 
as  he  was  directed  to  do,  on  November  30th,  1807, 
with  the  remains  of  his  army,  which  he  had  worn 
out  with  marches  and  fights.  As  he  approached, 
the  royal  house  of  Portugal,  the  Braganza  family, 
went  on  board  the  fleet  with  the  court  and  immense 
wealth  and  sailed  to  the  empire  of  Brazil. 
Napoleon  made  Junot  Duke  of  Abrantes,  after  a 
battle  he  had  fought  in  Portugal.  He  had 
marched  peacefully  through  Spain,  as  if  the  war 
with  it  was  over.  It  was  the  same  with  the 
70,000  men  that  the  Emperor  sent  after  Junot  to 
Portugal  in  1806.  However,  these  troops,  com- 
manded by  Marshal  Moncey,  Duke  of  Conegliano, 
and  General  Dupont,  were  suddenly  directed  to 
fall  on  the  Spanish  towns  and  fortresses. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  109 

On  June  6th,  1808,  Joseph  Bonaparte  was 
proclaimed  King  of  Spain.  He  had  hitherto 
amused  himself  so  well  as  king  of  the  gay  Neapoli- 
tans, at  a  safe  distance  from  his  restless  brother, 
that  he  was  not  particularly  pleased  with  a 
promotion  that  put  him  on  the  ancient  and 
unfamiliar  throne  of  Spain,  and  events  justified 
his  concern.  The  shrewd  General  Exelmans 
knew  the  Spanish  nation  better  than  Napoleon  did, 
and  he  had  endeavoured  to  make  him  understand 
that  this  was  the  worst  conceivable  way  of  treating 
the  Spaniards ;  but  no  one  would  listen  to  him. 
The  result  was  that  the  whole  of  Spain  offered  a 
resistance  that  had  the  character  of  a  revolution 
from  the  first.  It  was  a  revolt  against  a  king 
imposed  on  them  by  a  foreign  power.  From  this 
moment  began  the  bitter  struggle  between  French 
and  Spaniards,  that  went  on  without  interruption 
until  the  fall  of  Napoleon. 

The  radical  differences  between  the  Spanish 
wars  and  the  open  campaigns  in  Italy  and  Germany 
where  the  French  generals  had  hitherto  conquered, 
was  due  firstly  to  the  natural  character  of  the 
country,  which  offered  better  opportunities  for 
small  fights,  surprises,  and  descents.  Then  there 
was  the  circumstance  that  the  war  was  a  general 
rising  of  the  people.  The  haughty  nation  took 
part  in  it  to  a  man — indeed,  to  a  woman.  They 
fought  in  bands,  and  by  ambush  and  assassination. 
More  French  soldiers  were  killed  in  this  way  than 
in  the  pitched  battles.  Another  feature  that  gave 
the  Spanish  wars  a  unique  complexion  was  the 


110  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

levity  with  which  the  French  troops  were  wont 
to  regard  the  women  in  conquered  territory  as  so 
much  booty.  The  Spanish  women  declined  to 
see  this,  and  what  the  French  had  begun  almost 
in  jest,  soon  assumed  the  most  alarming  pro- 
portions on  account  of  the  unexpected  resistance, 
and  at  last  it  degenerated  into  violence  and 
shameful  abuse  on  the  part  of  the  conquerors. 

The  rage  of  the  Spaniards  was  unbounded. 
They  continued  the  scattered  fight  with  cold- 
blooded ferocity,  and  punished,  maltreated,  and 
mutilated  their  prisoners.  No  isolated  Frenchman 
was  safe  in  Spain.  When  the  troops  marched 
onward,  they  found  the  corpses  of  their  comrades 
hanging  along  the  streets,  naked  and  mutilated  ; 
and  the  nature  of  the  mutilation  clearly  indicated 
that  this  was  vengeance  for  the  treatment  of 
their  women. 

The  worst  of  all  was  that  the  French  arms 
met  with  a  serious  reverse  from  the  outset.  A 
French  corps  under  General  Dupont  advanced 
along  the  Andujar.  Dupont  belonged  to  an  old 
family  of  officers,  and  had  narrowly  escaped  the 
guillotine.  Carnot  had  had  him  installed  in  the 
topographical  department  of  the  Ministry  of  War 
together  with  Clarke,  but  he  had  a  command  as 
early  as  Marengo,  and  was  the  officer  who 
conducted  the  negotiations  with  General  Melas 
after  the  battle.  He  had  served  under  Marshal 
Mortier  at  Diirnstein,  and  after  Friedland  he 
received  on  the  field  the  broad  ribbon  of  the  Legion 
of  Honour.  He  was,  therefore,  one  of  the  chief 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  111 

generals,  and  the  Emperor  had  confidence  in  him. 
One  day  in  June,  1808,  he  was  opposed  with  a 
small  part  of  his  corps  to  the  Spanish  General 
Reding,  a  Swiss  by  birth,  at  Baylen.  One  of 
Dupont's  generals,  Gobert,  fell  in  a  skirmish,  and 
his  successor,  Dufour,  a  good  general,  who  after- 
wards fell  at  Beresina,  was  not  prepared  and  not 
at  his  post.  Other  accidents  happened.  Orderlies 
went  astray  ;  commands  were  intercepted  by  the 
enemy,  and  this  gave  rise  to  misunderstandings 
and  a  number  of  bad  manoeuvres.  In  addition, 
the  heat  was  extraordinary,  and  General  Dupont 
was  ill. 

General  Reding  profited  so  well  by  all  this 
that  he  compelled  Dupont  to  seek  an  armistice 
after  an  unequal  fight  on  June  20th.  But  Reding 
was  attacked  from  another  side  at  the  same  time 
by  General  Wedel.  He  was  between  Dupont  and 
Wedel,  and  would  have  been  crushed  if  he  had 
not  succeeded  in  inducing  Dupont  to  inform 
Wedel  by  an  orderly  of  the  armistice.  Thus 
Wedel  was  forced  to  desist  from  attacking,  and 
let  slip  a  Spanish  regiment  that  he  might  have 
captured.  But  while  Wedel  was  still  fighting, 
one  of  Dupont's  adjutants,  Villoutrai,  who  had 
completely  misunderstood  his  commands,  had 
brought  news  of  the  armistice,  out  of  consideration 
for  General  Castanos,  who  was  still  a  long  way  off. 
Castanos  advanced  by  forced  marches  to  Baylen, 
and  the  situation  became  so  desperate  with  his 
arrival  that  the  armistice  was  converted  into  a 
capitulation.  Nor  was  this  all.  Generals  Wedel 


112  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

and  Dufour,  hearing  that  Dupont  had  capitulated 
and  marching  on  to  reach  Madrid,  heard  from 
Dupont  by  an  adjutant  after  a  day's  march  that 
their  divisions  were  included  in  the  capitulation. 
In  a  moment  of  incredible  stupidity  the  generals 
obeyed,  surrendered,  and  had  their  brave  soldiers 
disarmed,  and  thrown  into  Spanish  prisons. 

The  whole  army — 21,000  men,  with  40  guns 
and  2,400  cavalry — became  prisoners  of  war.  Very 
few  of  these  fine  soldiers  ever  reached  France 
again.  Most  of  them  met  their  death  by  hunger 
and  filth  and  ill  treatment  in  the  horrible  prisons 
of  Spain.  As  was  usually  done — perhaps  especially 
in  Spain — the  higher  officers  had  collected  an 
immense  amount  of  booty,  which  was  amongst  the 
baggage  of  the  army.  It  has  been  hinted  that 
the  generals  thought  more  of  their  valuable  spoil 
than  they  ought  to  have  done.  But  when  the 
soldiers  saw  that  their  poor  knapsacks  were  to 
be  searched  they  handed  over  to  the  officers  the 
driving  of  the  waggons,  in  which  there  were 
great  quantities  of  pictures  and  other  valuables 
taken  from  churches  and  castles. 

It  was  the  greatest  blow  that  the  French 
army  ever  experienced  under  Napoleon.  He 
heard  the  news  at  Bordeaux  on  August  1st,  and 
his  pain  and  anger  were  unbounded.  *  Would 
that  I  could  wipe  out  the  disgrace  with  my 
blood,'  he  exclaimed.  The  celebrated  engineer- 
general  Marescot  and  General  Prive  had  protested 
against  the  capitulation,  and  could  not  be  included 
in  the  infamy  of  it.  General  Prive  was  detained 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  113 

in  England  until  1814,  and  Dupont  was  imprisoned. 
His  case  was  never  concluded,  as  far  as  I  can 
learn ;  but  after  1814  he  received  fresh  honours 
and  dignity  under  the  Bourbons. 

When  the  Baylen  capitulation  was  known 
throughout  Spain,  it  made  a  deep  impression. 
The  bubble  of  French  invincibility  was  pricked, 
as  it  were,  and  the  revolution  could  not  be  sup- 
pressed. Joseph  had  to  fly  from  Madrid  after 
being  King  of  Spain  for  eight  days.  The 
misfortunes  of  France  in  Spain  were  completed 
in  1808  when  Wellesley  landed  to  the  north  of 
Lisbon  with  an  English  army,  joined  the  Portu- 
guese, and  marched  on  Vimeiro  with  a  force  of 
26,000  men.  The  intrepid  Junot  did  not  budge 
a  step,  but  opposed  the  advance  of  the  enemy 
with  his  10,000  men.  He  fought  for  five  hours 
and  lost  the  battle,  but  his  position  remained  so 
strong  that  the  English  general  offered  him 
honourable  terms,  and  the  capitulation  was  con- 
cluded in  the  famous  monastery  at  Cintra  near 
Lisbon.  Junot 's  army  with  all  arms  and  stores 
was  sent  in  English  ships  to  France,  so  that  he 
and  his  men  left  the  Peninsula  without  disgrace. 

However,  coming  after  the  Baylen  scandal, 
the  Cintra  capitulation  put  the  French  in  a 
desperate  position,  and  the  English,  who  remained 
in  Portugal,  were  greeted  as  friends  and  allies  by 
the  Spaniards.  After  a  short  time  the  Spanish 
nation,  which  might  have  entered  into  an  alliance 
with  the  French  by  a  rational  and  considerate 
treatment,  to  drive  the  English  invaders  out  of 
H 


114  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  Peninsula,  joined  with  the  English  in 
antagonism  to  Napoleon. 

When  Napoleon  and  Alexander  met  at  Tilsit 
in  July,  1807,  they  had  both  expressed  a  wish  to 
meet  again  before  the  end  of  the  year.  Affairs 
in  Spain,  and  the  presence  of  the  English  army  in 
Portugal  made  a  meeting  more  than  advisable 
for  Napoleon.  Prussia's  fate  was  to  be  decided. 
Austria  was  making  strenuous  preparations,  and 
had  reorganised  its  reserve.  When  Napoleon 
went  to  Erfurt  for  the  promised  interview  in  July, 
1808,  his  forces  were  as  follows,  according  to  a 
letter  to  his  brother  Joseph  :  '  I  have  one  army 
at  Passau,  one  at  Warschau,  one  in  Schleswig, 
one  at  Hamburg,  one  at  Berlin,  one  at  Boulogne, 
and  one  marching  against  Portugal.  I  am 
collecting  a  reserve  army  at  Boulogne,  I  have 
another  in  Italy,  another  in  Dalmatia,  and  another 
at  Naples.  And  there  are  garrisons  all  along  the 
coast.' 

All  the  German  princes,  except  the  King  of 
Prussia  and  the  Emperor  of  Austria  were  at 
Erfurt.  Baron  Vincent  came,  as  representative, 
with  an  excuse  for  the  latter.  The  truth  was 
that  the  Emperor  was  concerned  to  see  Napoleon 
caring  about  nobody  but  the  Tsar,  and  the  two 
arranging  the  affairs  of  Europe  without  inviting 
him.  Moreover,  Austria  was  fully  occupied  just 
then  with  its  own  organisation. 

During  the  fortnight  they  were  together  at 
Erfurt,  the  two  Emperors  had  most  intimate 
conversations,  and  it  seemed  to  everybody  that 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  115 

the  Russian  autocrat  was  proud  of  the 
consideration  and  friendship  with  which  Napoleon 
treated  him.  '  The  friendship  of  a  great  man  is 
a  gift  of  the  gods,'  was  said  one  night  from  the 
stage,  where  Talma  and  the  other  actors  from  the 
Theatre  Frangais  were  playing  tragedies.  Alex- 
ander grasped  Napoleon's  hand  and  said  with 
some  warmth  :  '  I  feel  that  every  day.'  Napoleon 
was  as  generous  as  ever.  He  presented  the 
Grand  Duke  Constantine  with  a  very  valuable 
sword,  and  gave  his  own  to  Emperor  Alexander. 
As  he  took  the  weapon,  the  Tsar  said  :  '  I  accept 
this  token  of  friendship,  and  your  Majesty  may 
be  quite  sure  that  I  will  never  draw  it  against 
you.'  They  parted  on  October  14th,  the  one 
going  to  his  kingdom  in  the  east,  the  other  to  the 
west,  and  they  never  saw  sach  other  again. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Napoleon's  ultimate 
aim  in  all  his  wars  was  universal  peace.  That 
may  be  true  in  the  sense  that  he  certainly  aimed 
at  bringing  about  a  state  of  things  in  which  all 
the  others  would  be  on  the  floor,  and  he  would  be 
recognised  as  the  greatest  of  all.  The  princes  he 
met  were  personally  inferior  to  him,  and  their 
enforced  recognition  had  little  value  in  his  eyes. 
He  cared  little  about  England.  It  was  not  a 
kingdom  in  his  opinion.  But  to  win  Russia's 
mighty  Tsar  was  an  object  worth  seeking.  He 
was  prepared  to  divide  the  world  with  him.  He 
therefore  gave  greater  attention  to  winning  him 
than  he  had  ever  done  in  regard  to  anyone  else. 
With  his  great  superior  mind,  his  knowledge,  and 


116  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  amiability  that  he  really  had,  he  overshadowed 
the  younger  man.  The  Tsar  would  have  had  to 
be  of  marble  for  all  this  to  make  no  impression  on 
him.  Whereas  Alexander  I  was  in  some  respects 
very  sensitive  and  easy  to  move. 

Yet  it  was  Napoleon  who  was  duped.  Not 
that  the  other  man  could  have  hoodwinked  him. 
Napoleon  was  cunning  enough  to  scent  duplicity 
at  any  distance.  But  there  is  a  great  difference 
between  what  we  may  call  Napoleon's  occasional 
deceptiveness  and  the  Asiatic  form  of  absolute 
and  unvarying  duplicity  that  had  been  impressed 
in  the  training  of  the  young  prince  and  was  the 
chief  prerogative  of  the  mature  ruler.  Alexander 
might  be  caught  and  enchanted,  and  he  might 
mean  every  word  that  he  said.  But  it  was  not 
associated  in  him  with  the  least  particle  of  what 
we  call  duty,  to  say  nothing  of  his  altering  his 
opinion  of  Napoleon,  or  forgetting  for  a  second 
that  this  enchanting  individual  was  merely  a 
Corsican  adventurer  of  the  name  of  Bonaparte, 
on  whose  neck  he  would  one  day  set  his  stout 
Russian  boot. 

The  more  the  King  of  Saxony  approached  him, 
and  the  smaller  German  princes  humbled  them- 
selves before  him,  the  more  Napoleon  attracted 
the  young  Tsar.  He  made  no  vain  comparison 
of  his  power  with  that  of  the  other  monarch.  It 
was  enough  for  him  as  the  elder  to  eclipse  the 
younger  man  with  his  personal  superiority.  With 
Alexander,  and  recognised  by  him,  he  would 
renounce  further  plans,  and,  once  England  was 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  117 

shattered,  each  would  possess  his  half  of  the 
world  in  peace.  Meantime,  Russia  was  to  take 
Finland,  and  France  the  Spanish  Peninsula. 

On  October  19th,  Napoleon  was  back  at 
St.  Cloud.  A  few  days  afterwards  he  made  a 
speech  at  the  opening  of  the  Legislative  Assembly, 
in  which  he  said :  '  I  set  out  for  Spain  in  a  few 
days  to  put  myself  at  the  head  of  my  army, 
crown  my  brother  King  of  Spain  at  Madrid,  and 
plant  our  nobility  in  the  fortresses  of  Portugal. 
The  Emperor  of  Russia  and  I  have  been  together 
at  Erfurt.  We  are  at  one  and  indissolubly  joined 
in  war  and  peace. '  He  entered  Spain  on  November 
4th,  1808,  and  victory  at  once  followed  in  his 
steps.  Joseph  met  his  brother,  and  joined  the 
march  on  Madrid.  Many  of  Napoleon's  best 
generals  were  then  in  Spain,  and  in  time  they 
nearly  all  came.  Davoust  was  spared,  but  Suchet, 
Soult,  Ney,  Massena,  Victor,  and  Marmont,  were 
all  called  into  the  war,  and  few  came  out  of  it 
without  hurt. 

At  Somo  Sierra  the  army  corps  to  which  the 
Emperor  was  attached  had  a  fierce  and  famous 
fight.  General  Victor,  who  had  been  made 
marshal  and  Duke  of  Belluno  after  the  battle 
of  Friedland,  was  at  the  foot  of  the  pass  of  Somo 
Sierra.  It  was  protected  by  redoubts,  in  which 
there  were  16  guns,  while  10,000  infantry  were 
distributed  over  the  rising  ground  on  each  side 
of  the  narrow  pass.  They  were  commanded  by 
General  San-Benito.  The  position  seemed  impreg- 
nable for  any  troops  but  a  numerous  infantry 


118  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

with  great  staying  power.  But  after  a  few  attacks 
had  failed,  Napoleon  became  impatient.  He 
ordered  General  Montbrun  to  take  the  position 
with  the  Polish  lancers  that  he  commanded,  and 
that  belonged  to  the  Emperor's  own  guard. 

It  was  an  unheard-of  thing  to  send  cavalry 
against  such  a  position,  but  the  Emperor  was 
impatient,  and  he  knew  that  there  were  no  better 
troops  than  the  Poles  to  do  it,  if  it  were  to  be 
done.  They  did  not  fail  him,  but  rushed  forward. 
They  ran  their  horses  up  the  mountain,  and 
leaped  over  the  redoubts.  The  Spanish  artillery- 
men were  cut  down  at  the  guns,  and,  though 
with  heavy  losses,  Montbrun  succeeded  in  driving 
the  enemy  from  the  pass,  and  the  army  could 
advance.  A  large  number  of  prisoners  and  stores 
were  taken. 

When  the  Polish  lancers  advanced  to  the 
attack,  they  were  followed  by  the  young  Segur. 
His  place  was  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
Emperor,  acting  as  adjutant  on  tour  and  as  an 
officer  of  the  palace  at  home.  The  Emperor 
ordered  him  to  take  the  place  of  an  officer  who 
had  fallen,  and  thus  he  came  to  take  part  in  the 
battle,  which  is  regarded  as  a  very  remarkable 
piece  of  cavalry  work.  He  was  so  severely 
wounded  that  he  very  narrowly  escaped  death. 
Afterwards  he  was  liberally  rewarded.  He 
followed  the  Emperor  as  a  general  to  the  end,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  91,  in  1871.  It  is  he  who  has 
written  the  excellent  memoirs  which  have  made 
famous  the  Russian  campaign.  His  father  had 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  119 

been  in  the  service  of  Catherine  II  of  Russia,  and 
afterwards  entered  that  of  Napoleon,  acting  as 
head  marshal  of  the  court  and  master  of  ceremonies 
at  the  Tuileries.  Napoleon  was  very  proud  of 
him. 

The  Emperor  was  not  generous  to  the  Poles. 
Not  that  he  used  them  hardly  in  his  service,  or 
slighted  them.  On  the  contrary,  the  attack  on 
Somo  Sierra  was,  and  would  certainly  continue 
to  be,  regarded  on  both  sides  as  a  compliment. 
Many  of  the  Polish  officers  rose  to  high  positions. 
There  were  several  generals  amongst  them,  such 
as  Prince  Poniatowski,  who  was  marshal  only 
for  a  few  days  before  he  fell  at  Leipsic.  General 
Dombrowski  led  the  Poles  into  Russia,  and  in 
his  early  years  one  of  Napoleon's  favourite 
adjutants  was  the  Pole  Sulkowski,  who  fell  in 
Egypt.  But  on  the  political  side  Napoleon 
gravely  deceived  the  Poles.  He  understood  well 
that  they  were  not  a  people  out  of  which  he  could 
make  a  kingdom  for  a  Bonaparte,  that  would  obey 
all  orders  emanating  from  Paris  ;  and  that  was 
what  he  wanted.  Moreover,  he  did  not  want  to 
act  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  his  friend  the  Tsar. 
The  intense  love  of  the  Poles  for  liberty  and  their 
burning  hatred  of  tyrants  were  by  no  means  to 
his  taste.  Hence  it  was  that  he  never  realised 
their  constant  dream  of  a  Polish  kingdom.  He 
accepted  their  services,  and  held  them  with  hints 
and  half-promises,  but  never  went  any  further. 

After  the  battle  of  Somo  Sierra  Napoleon  was 
free  to  march  on  Madrid,  which  he  could  easily 


120  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

have  taken  by  force.  But  he  saw  that  it  would 
be  a  bad  beginning  to  set  up  Joseph  by  force  in 
a  kingdom  with  a  pillaged  capital.  He  took  his 
time,  therefore,  and  surrounded  the  city,  which 
surrendered  of  itself.  With  a  good  deal  of  trouble 
the  Spanish  officials  succeeded  in  keeping  the 
people  sufficiently  in  hand  to  permit  the  rein- 
statement of  King  Joseph  in  apparent  tranquility. 
Napoleon  issued  high-toned  proclamations  to  the 
Spanish  nation,  but  they  did  not  make  the  least 
impression.  On  the  other  hand  he  was  himself 
greatly  impressed  with  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of 
their  hostility  to  the  French,  the  Spaniards  were 
so  honourable  and  loyal  that  King  Joseph  found 
his  palace  at  Madrid  intact,  just  as  he  had  left  it. 
Even  the  family  portraits  of  the  Bonaparte's, 
including  David's  famous  picture  of  General 
Bonaparte  on  the  Alps,  were  hanging  in  their 
places.  Napoleon  could  not  understand  the 
national  trait  that  made  a  compulsory  king  an 
object  of  hatred,  yet  left  him  safe  in  his  chateau. 
If  from  the  first  Joseph  had  taken  the  place  of 
the  old  and  hated  and  disreputable  royal  house, 
without  any  use  of  force,  all  might  have  been  well. 
Now  it  was  too  late. 

On  December  22nd,  Napoleon  left  Madrid  for 
the  purpose  of  personally  conducting  the  war.  It 
was  mainly  a  war  with  the  English,  who  had 
crossed  the  Duero,  and  were  drawing  near  Valla- 
dolid.  The  Emperor  left  Marshals  Victor  and 
Lefebvre,  and  the  cavalry-generals  Lasalle,  Mil- 
haud,  and  Latour-Maubourg  to  protect  Joseph 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  121 

at  Madrid.  He  immediately  met  with  several 
mishaps.  General  Lefebvre  -  Desnouettes  incau- 
tiously went  with  400  dragoons  across  a  ford 
with  the  object  of  occupying  the  village  of 
Bonavente,  which  he  thought  to  be  deserted. 
Unfortunately,  there  were  still  2,000  English 
cavalry  there,  and  they  threw  themselves  on  the 
small  detachment.  Lefebvre-Desnouettes  was 
wounded,  and  his  horse  shot  under  him.  He  fell 
into  the  water,  and  was  captured.  General 
August  Colbert — there  were  three  brothers — 
received  the  command  of  Lefebvre's  troops,  which 
formed  part  of  Marshal  Bessieres'  cavalry  of  the 
advance  guard.  The  young  man  fell  two  days 
afterwards.  Before  he  died  he  said :  '  I  die  like 
a  brave  soldier  of  the  grand  army,  because  I  see 
before  me  the  worst  enemy  of  my  country  in 
flight.5  He  was  one  of  the  lions  of  the  court ; 
one  of  the  finest  men  in  the  army. 

Under  the  Emperor's  lead  Marshals  Ney  and 
Soult  beat  the  English  in  a  number  of  battles. 
General  Moore  fell,  and  General  Baird  was 
dangerously  wounded  on  the  del  Curgo  bridge 
before  Corunna.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  the 
war  would  soon  end,  under  Napoleon's  lead,  with 
the  re-occupation  of  the  Peninsula  and  the 
destruction  of  the  English.  He  was  the  only  man 
who  could  handle  several  armies  simultaneously 
and  keep  his  eye  on  the  generals.  However,  in 
the  middle  of  January,  1809,  he  received  such 
news  from  Paris  at  Valladolid,  especially  in  regard 
to  the  hostile  attitude  of  Austria,  that  he  at 


122  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

once  mounted  his  horse  and  left  Spain  to  Joseph 
with  Marshal  Jourdan  in  supreme  command. 
Napoleon's  suddenly  leaving  his  army  in  a  hostile 
country  recalled  his  abrupt  departure  from  Egypt. 
When  the  same  thing  happened  later  in  life,  it 
made  a  great  deal  of  bad  blood  amongst  the 
officers.  The  soldiers  never  resented  anything  he 
did. 

There  was  one  point  that  all  aristocratic 
travellers  hastened  to  write  home  to  their  circles — 
namely,  that  Napoleon  could  not  ride,  did  not 
sit  well  on  horseback,  cut  a  poor  figure,  and  so 
on.  There  was  a  certain  consolation  in  thinking 
that  the  man  who  towered  above  them  in  every- 
thing else  could  not  compare  with  them  in  personal 
bearing,  at  least  in  the  fine  art  of  riding.  The 
truth  was  that  Napoleon  was  a  careless  rider,  a 
man  whose  chief  concern  was  through  thick  and 
thin  to  get  to  his  destination  as  quickly  as  possible. 
He  had  never  had  time  or  inclination  to  study 
that  demeanour  on  which  the  sons  of  princes  set 
such  store.  It  is  a  great  strain  for  man  and  beast 
to  sit  faultlessly,  without  moving,  on  a  horse  for 
hours  together,  reviewing  large  masses  of  troops. 
The  Emperor  of  Russia  had  a  number  of  horses 
that  were  trained  to  stand  as  rigidly  as  if  they 
were  made  of  bronze.  But  Napoleon  was  always 
moving.  Even  during  a  review  he  was  here 
and  there  and  everywhere,  because  he  had  to 
see  everything,  and  his  thoughts  were  on  what 
he  saw,  and  he  did  not  care  a  jot  how  he  himself 
looked.  Hence  strangers  who  saw  the  little  man 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  123 

in  the  grey  coat  on  his  noble  horse,  without  giving 
a  moment's  thought  to  the  animal  or  to  the  art 
of  riding,  found  that  he  was  a  poor  horseman. 
But  when  there  was  question  of  crossing  a  dan- 
gerous country,  or  of  endurance,  there  were  few 
in  Europe  who  could  ride  like  him.  On  January 
16th  he  rode  at  a  sharp  gallop  from  Valladolid 
to  Burgos,  which  he  had  quitted  the  same  morning 
—23  miles  in  five  hours — from  there,  without 
leaving  the  carriage,  he  drove  to  Bayonne,  and  then 
on  to  Paris,  where  he  arrived  quite  alone  ;  no  one 
had  been  able  to  keep  up  with  him.  On  the 
evening  of  January  23rd  his  carriage  entered  the 
Tuileries,  and  the  following  morning  Paris  was 
astounded  to  learn  from  the  Moniteur  that 
Napoleon  had  returned  from  Spain. 

Austria  had  been  quiet  for  four  years.  But 
it  could  never  lose  its  hatred  of  the  arrogant  son 
of  the  Revolution,  who  had  annihilated  its  armies, 
and  taken  his  place  amongst  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe.  Moreover,  money  and  entreaties  came 
from  England,  and  these  were  redoubled  when 
the  Emperor  promised  to  succeed  in  driving  the 
English  out  of  the  Peninsula.  Thus,  when  Austria 
caused  Napoleon  to  leave  Spain  on  account  of 
its  menacing  attitude,  it  did  a  great  service  to 
England,  while  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  was 
left  to  pay  dearly  for  his  imprudent  declaration 
of  war. 

The  Austrians  had  gathered  a  large  and 
superior  army  of  nearly  300,000  men,  and  they  had 
at  least  one  of  the  chief  commanders  of  the  time, 


124  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  Archduke  Charles.  The  troops  were  in  Poland, 
Saxony,  Tyrol,  and  Italy,  under  the  Archdukes 
Charles,  Ferdinand,  and  John,  and  Generals 
Kolowrat,  Bellegarde,  and  Hiller.  The  French 
fighting  forces  were  distributed  under  Poniatowsld 
in  Poland,  Bernadotte  in  Saxony,  General  Gratien 
in  Holland,  and  King  Jerome  in  Westphalia. 
These  were  really  reserve  troops.  The  chief  army, 
which  was  under  the  immediate  command  of  the 
Emperor,  consisted  of  the  corps  of  Lannes  and 
Oudinot,  the  third  corps  under  Davoust  at 
Regensburg,  and  the  fourth  under  Massena  at 
Ulm.  The  seventh  corps,  consisting  of  30,000 
Bavarians  under  the  Duke  of  Dantzig,  was  at. 
Munich.  The  eighth,  under  Vandamme,  was 
made  up  of  12,000  Wiirtembergers  and  12,000 
other  German  soldiers.  Macdonald  and  Marmont 
advanced  northwards  from  Italy.  Altogether 
there  were  267,000  men. 

At  last,  after  many  bitter  words  and  tedious 
intrigues,  Napoleon  learned  on  the  evening  of 
April  12th  that  the  Archduke  Charles  had  crossed 
the  Inn.  On  the  17th  Napoleon  fixed  his  head- 
quarters at  Donauworth.  From  the  very 
beginning  of  this  campaign  there  was  scarcely  a 
day  on  which  one  or  other  of  the  French  generals 
did  not  distinguish  himself,  and  the  tide  of  war 
rolled  steadily  eastwards  toward  Vienna,  some  of 
the  battles  being  great  and  sanguinary.  At 
Abensberg  Napoleon  left  it  chiefly  to  the  Bavarians 
and  Wiirtembergers  to  defeat  the  Austrians  under 
General  Hiller ;  and  under  the  command  of 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  125 

Davoust,  Lannes,  and  Vandamme,  they  won  a 
decisive  victory.  Marshal  Davoust,  who  was 
already  Duke  of  Auerstadt,  was  made  Prince  of 
Eckmiihl,  a  small  village  near  Regensburg,  where 
he  annihilated  the  army-corps  of  the  Archduke 
Charles  in  a  fierce  three  hours'  battle,  and  opened 
the  way  to  Vienna.  General  Cervoni,  who  came 
of  an  Italian  family,  was  killed  while  he  was 
spreading  out  a  map  before  the  Emperor.  General 
Clement  lost  an  arm  at  Eckmiihl. 

Napoleon  was  wounded  at  Regensburg  for  the 
only  time  in  his  life.  He  received  a  slight 
laceration  of  the  heel.  The  King  of  Bavaria,  whom 
the  Austrians  had  driven  from  Munich,  returned 
to  his  capital  in  triumph.  The  French  armies  then 
converged  on  Vienna,  driving  the  enemy  before 
them.  Napoleon  was  marching  for  the  first  time 
without  his  Guard.  He  had  been  pleased  to  keep 
the  Bavarians  and  Wtirtembergers  near  him,  to 
reward  them  for  Abensberg  and  attach  them  more 
closely  to  his  person.  At  nine  o'clock  on  May 
10th  he  reached  the  gates  of  Vienna.  As  the  city 
was  not  surrendered  for  some  time,  he  on  the 
evening  of  the  llth  caused  a  battery  of  fifteen 
guns  to  throw  1,800  bombs  into  it,  and  they  at 
once  set  fire  to  it  in  different  places.  It  capitulated 
on  the  morning  of  May  12th,  and  General 
Andreossy  was  appointed  Governor. 

After  the  taking  of  Vienna,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  cross  the  Danube,  where  the  enemy 
were  still  drawn  up  for  battle  under  the  Arch- 
duke and  General  Hiller.  Four  bridges  were  used 


126  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

for  crossing  the  river,  as  there  were  several 
islands  to  be  passed,  the  last  being  separated 
from  the  left  bank  by  an  arm  of  the  river  some 
three  or  four  hundred  feet  wide.  The  work  began 
under  the  direction  of  engineer-generals  Pernetti 
and  Bernard.  The  latter  was  not  yet  so  famous 
as  he  afterwards  became,  and  was  not  considered 
so  distinguished  an  engineer  as  Lariboisiere, 
Chasseloup,  Marescot,  and  Haxo,  or  as  the  great 
Eble,  who  made  the  bridges  over  the  Beresina. 
On  May  19th  Napoleon  ordered  the  pontoons  to  be 
put  together  and  the  bridges  made.  Massena 
crossed  it  on  the  20th  with  Molitor's  division. 
He  drove  the  Austrians  out  of  the  island  after 
two  hours'  fighting,  and  by  twelve  o'clock  he  had 
the  whole  of  the  fourth  corps  on  it.  It  is  fairly 
large,  and  was  at  that  time  overgrown  with 
bushes  and  intersected  with  ditches. 

On  the  evening  of  May  20th  Napoleon 
matured  his  plan  of  crossing  the  last  arm  of  the 
river  early  the  following  morning  and  attacking 
the  villages  of  Aspern  and  Esslingen.  Neither  he 
nor  anyone  else  suspected  that  the  Archduke 
Charles  and  General  Hiller  had  entrenched  them- 
selves so  strongly  in  these  positions  that  the 
French  had  to  fight  two  very  critical  battles 
before  they  could  get  a  safe  footing  on  the  left 
bank ;  and  even  then  they  only  half  succeeded. 
On  the  evening  of  the  20th  the  officers  and  soldiers 
sat  round  the  camp  fires  and  were  chatting  gaily 
as  was  usual  on  the  night  before  a  battle.  A 
young  officer  named  Albuquerque — of  a  Spanish 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  127 

family — had  come  with  Lannes'  troops  from 
Spain.  He  had  been  fortunate  enough  to  receive 
the  sword  of  the  brave  General  Palafox,  when  he 
surrendered  Saragossa.  He  now  sat  and  sang 
gay  and  sentimental  Spanish  songs  to  his  comrades, 
who  knew  his  fine  voice  and  gathered  round  his 
fire.  He  fell  at  Aspern  the  following  afternoon. 

On  the  following  morning,  while  Napoleon's 
troops  were  in  the  act  of  crossing  the  bridge,  the 
enemy  deployed  all  his  forces,  and  attacked  with 
a  superior  force  the  divisions  that  had  crossed 
over.  The  battle  centred  about  the  two  villages, 
which  passed  alternately  to  one  or  other  party  five 
or  six  times  in  the  course  of  the  day.  Massena 
was  engaged  at  Aspern  and  Lannes  at  Esslingen. 
The  French  were  outnumbered,  but  they  were 
the  best  soldiers  in  Europe,  and  they  kept  off  the 
enemy  until  dark  came  on.  Marshal  Bessieres 
had  exposed  his  cavalry  to  fire,  and  they  had  done 
wonders  of  bravery,  but  had  also  suffered  a  great 
loss  in  the  death  of  General  d'Espagne,  one  of  the 
finest  cavalry  leaders,  and  three  colonels.  In  the 
awful  night  between  the  21st  and  22nd  of  May, 
Massena  camped  in  the  ruins  of  the  burning 
village  of  Aspern,  the  Austrians  under  Bellegarde 
holding  the  church  and  churchyard  in  the  same 
village.  But  both  armies  were  overcome  with 
fatigue,  and  they  allowed  each  other  a  few  hours' 
rest. 

In  the  midst  of  the  battle  there  was  a  heated 
private  quarrel  between  Marshals  Bessieres  and 
Lannes.  By  the  Emperor's  orders,  Bessieres's 


128  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

cavalry  was  at  the  disposal  of  Lannes,  so  that  the 
former  was,  to  some  extent,  under  the  supreme 
command  of  Lannes,  and  he  found  this  intolerable. 
A  violent  quarrel  broke  out  between  them,  and 
they  very  nearly  came  to  fight  a  duel  that  evening. 
The  armies  had  not  a  long  sleep.     At  two  in 
the  morning  the  Austrians  began  to  stir.  Napoleon 
sent  adjutants  incessantly  to  the  other  army-corps 
which  were  still  on  the  island  and  on  the  right 
bank,  directing  them  to  cross  over  as  quickly  as 
possible.     Meantime,  the  bridges  themselves  were 
in  the  greatest  danger.     The  Austrians  filled  boats 
with  heavy  stones,  and  flung  mills  and  mill-wheels 
and  anything  that  could  float  into  the  river  above 
the  bridge.     The  mass  was  carried  down  by  the 
current,  and  borne  against  the  French  bridges, 
bringing  great  pressure  to  bear  on  the  piles  and 
pontoons.     In  the  early  morning  Marshal  Davoust 
rode  alone  across  the  bridge  to  tell  the  Emperor 
that  his  men  would  soon  be  there.     Some  of  them 
had  already  arrived,  and  were  fighting  with  the 
heroes  of  the  preceding  day.     Napoleon  therefore 
began  the  day  with  full  confidence,  though  the 
Archduke  was  again  pressing  forward  his  superior 
forces  with  great  energy.     The  French  stood  as 
firm  as  they  had  done  the  day  before. 

Napoleon  then,  relying  confidently  on  the 
closeness  of  reinforcements,  commanded  an 
advance,  and  directed  his  marshals  to  break 
through  the  Austrian  centre  and  hurl  them  back 
on  to  the  plains.  This  manoeuvre,  which  they 
knew  well  from  many  of  his  earlier  battles,  was 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  129 

at  once  and  so  brilliantly  carried  out  that  a  broad 
and  dangerous  gap  appeared  in  the  enemy's 
fighting-line.  Archduke  Charles  seized  the  flag 
of  General  Zach's  regiment  to  lead  his  troops 
forward  once  more.  He  exposed  himself  as  boldly 
as  the  bravest  soldier  amongst  them,  but  he  was 
borne  back  in  the  retreating  masses  of  the  army. 
Napoleon  also  was  so  imprudent  on  that  day  that 
General  Walther,  who  had  to  guard  him  with  the 
grenadiers,  went  up  to  him  and  said :  '  If  your 
Majesty  does  not  withdraw  I  shall  order  my 
grenadiers  to  remove  you  by  force.' 

It  was  still  no  later  than  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  Napoleon  was  quite  sure  of  seeing 
Davoust's  columns  come  over  the  bridge  any 
moment.  Then  came  the  news  that  the  largest 
bridge  had  broken  down.  Quietly,  without  a 
word  of  impatience,  he  saw  the  certain  victory 
slip  from  his  hands.  He  directed  Lannes  to 
suspend  the  attack,  whilst  he  got  more  detailed 
information.  The  news  he  heard  soon  convinced 
him  that  for  that  day  he  could  not  possibly  expect 
any  help  from  the  other  side  of  the  Danube,  and 
he  had  no  more  ammunition  on  his  own  side. 
The  Austrians  had  succeeded  in  floating  so  much 
stuff  against  the  longest  bridge  that  the  current 
at  length  broke  it  in  the  middle.  The  Archduke 
was  not  long  in  learning  that  Napoleon  was  more 
or  less  isolated.  He  gathered  his  men,  who  were 
subjected  to  no  further  attacks,  and  there  ensued 
one  of  the  fiercest  struggles  that  was  ever  witnessed. 
It  lasted  twelve  hours,  and  was  confined  to  one 


130  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

comparatively  small  field.  The  French  defended 
themselves  all  day  long  with  incredible  bravery, 
and  an  unusually  large  number  of  officers  fell. 
Amongst  them  was  General  Saint-Hilaire,  one  of 
the  most  important.  He  had  received  the  grand 
eagle  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  and  the  cross  of  a 
Commander  of  the  Iron  Crown  at  Austerlitz.  A 
worse  loss  was  that  of  Marshal  Lannes  himself, 
the  Duke  of  Montebello.  His  adjutants  had 
succeeded  in  inducing  him  to  dismount  for  a 
moment  and  stretch  his  legs,  when  a  cannon  ball 
broke  both  his  knees.  He  lived  for  a  few  days 
in  great  pain,  and  died  on  May  30th. 

Lannes  was  one  of  the  best  friends  of 
Napoleon's  youth  and  the  most  important  of  all. 
The  writers  who  have  sought  to  make  everything 
about  Napoleon  as  bad  as  possible,  have  tried  to  re- 
present the  relations  between  Lannes  and  Napoleon 
as  anything  but  friendly.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  he  said  some  very  straight  things  to  Napoleon 
at  times,  and  did  not  mince  matters  with  him. 
Napoleon  was  not  the  kind  of  man  that  one  could 
feel  very  tender  towards  ;  even  in  his  relations 
with  his  intimate  friends  he  preserved  the  coldness 
that  he  always  deliberately  cultivated.  But  when 
he  heaped  gratitude,  praise,  and  rewards  on  them, 
they  knew  it,  and  they  saw  from  a  single  look  or  a 
smile  that  he  was  a  true  friend  of  theirs.  The 
Emperor  never  mentioned  Lannes  without  warmly 
praising  his  fine  qualities,  and  he  missed  the  man 
all  his  life. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  131 

After  the  frightful  battle  of  Aspern  and 
Esslingen,  which  is  generally  regarded  as  the 
Archduke  Charles's  greatest  victory,  General 
Mouton  received  the  title  of  Count  of  Lobau,  with 
rich  awards,  for  his  coolness  and  unflinching 
bravery.  The  Emperor  was  quiet  and  cool,  as 
usual,  when  he  summoned  his  marshals  to  a  council 
in  the  evening.  They  all  advised  that  the  army 
be  brought  into  safety  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Danube.  But  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  retreat 
so  far.  He  could  not  be  induced  to  go  farther 
than  the  island  of  Lobau.  Orders  were  issued  to 
begin  the  crossing  as  soon  as  the  short  bridge  to 
Lobau  was  ready.  But  the  villages  were  to  be 
held  as  long  as  possible  in  order  to  deceive  the 
enemy.  During  the  night  Napoleon  rowed  across 
the  Danube  with  Berthier,  to  console  Davoust 
and  the  other  generals,  who  had  been  condemned 
to  inaction  during  the  great  battle. 

At  two  in  the  morning  the  Guard  began  to 
pass  quietly  ever  the  short  bridge  to  Lobau. 
After  them  came  the  cavalry  and  Oudinot's 
grenadiers,  and  before  it  was  quite  daylight  every- 
thing had  been  got  across  the  single  bridge  to 
Lobau.  They  had  then  to  make  a  better  bridge 
over  the  river,  and  the  best  engineers  in  the  army 
worked  for  forty-three  days  to  prepare  the  piles, 
etc.,  for  the  crossing  of  160,000  men  with  all  their 
appurtenances.  In  the  meantime  the  camp  on 
Lobau  was  converted  into  one  of  the  strongest 
positions  in  Europe,  and  French  armies  were 
converging  upon  it  from  all  sides.  A  number  of 


132  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

honourable  fights  were  engaged  in  at  the  same 
time  by  Napoleon's  generals,  while  he  himself 
kept  court  at  Schonbrunn. 

The  engineers  had  their  work,  which  was 
regarded  as  a  masterpiece  in  those  days,  ready 
in  the  early  days  of  July.  Three  bridges,  as 
broad  as  columns  of  troops,  so  that  three  waggons 
could  pass  each  other  on  them,  led  from  the  right 
bank  over  the  small  island  to  Lobau.  The 
bridges  that  were  to  lead  from  this  point  to  the 
left  bank  were  ready  to  be  thrown  over  the  left 
arm  of  the  river  at  a  given  moment.  The  whole 
was  protected  by  a  palisade-work  that  ran  out 
to  a  point  up  the  stream  from  one  of  the  small 
islands.  Right  across  the  island  of  Lobau  there 
was  a  forty-foot  wide  road  made,  running  out  on 
a  mole ;  and  on  this  road  and  on  the  bridges 
lanterns  were  set  up  every  60  feet.  At  each 
crossing  there  were  sign-posts  with  orders  for  each 
army-corps. 

Men  now  poured  in  from  all  quarters,  and 
soldiers  of  every  corps  in  the  grand  army,  who  had 
fought  all  over  Europe,  met  on  Lobau.  At  night- 
fall on  July  3rd  they  sat  round  the  bivouac  fires  ; 
comrades,  friends,  and  relatives,  who  had  not  seen 
each  other  for  six  years,  found  each  other  again 
in  the  crowd.  Besides  Massena,  Davoust,  and 
Oudinot,  the  Viceroy  Eugene  came  from  the  Tyrol, 
Marmont  from  Italy,  Bernadotte,  Vandamme, 
and  Lefebvre,  King  Jerome  from  Dresden,  and 
Junot  from  Bayreuth. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  133 

On  July  4th,  the  order  to  cross  was  given. 
A  number  of  small  bridges  that  stood  ready  were 
thrown  over  the  remaining  narrow  arm  of  the 
river  to  the  left  bank.  One  of  them  was  an 
especial  object  of  admiration.  It  consisted  of  a 
single  piece  and  was  placed  in  from  eight  to  ten 
minutes.  In  the  evening  occurred  one  of  the 
most  frightful  storms  ever  experienced.  Wind 
and  rain  lashed  the  whole  island  with  great  violence 
and  in  the  midst  of  it  broke  out  the  roar  of  the 
guns  that  were  to  protect  the  crossing.  But 
nothing  could  hold  them  or  damp  their  ardour. 
One  corps  after  another  began  its  march  over  the 
bridges  and  islands  into  the  darkness  and  storm. 
The  Emperor  was  on  horseback  all  night.  It  was 
calculated  that  he  spent  60  hours  in  the  saddle 
between  the  4th  and  6th  of  July. 

On  the  following  morning  the  vast  army  was 
across,  and  when  the  sun  rose  it  shone  on  the 
spreading  masses  of  the  French  drawn  up  in  line 
of  battle  in  all  their  splendour.  That  day  the 
Archduke  Charles  retreated.  In  the  afternoon 
there  was  a  fight  at  Wagram,  in  which  General 
Macdonald  distinguished  himself  with  the  army 
from  Italy.  Bernadotte,  who  commanded  the 
Saxon  auxiliaries,  made  a  feeble  and  fruitless 
attack  on  the  town  of  Wagram.  His  troops  were 
beaten,  and  retreated  in  great  disorder.  The 
Archduke  held  the  heights  of  Wagram  and  spent 
the  night  there. 

Early  the  next  morning,  July  7th,  the  day  of 
the  real  battle  of  Wagram,  the  Austrians  attacked 


134  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  village  of  Aderklaa  that  Bernadotte  was 
supposed  to  hold.  Once  more  his  Saxons  fled  in 
wild  confusion,  and  the  Archduke  drove  Napoleon's 
left  wing  so  far  back  that  the  batteries  on  Lobau 
had  to  open  fire  to  protect  the  bridges.  Massena 
commanded  the  left  wing,  and  had  with  him 
Generals  Molitor,  Legrand,  and  Boudet,  with  his 
fine  artillery.  General  Carra  Saint-Cyr  was  also 
with  them.  He  was  sent  first  to  recover  Aderklaa, 
but  owing  to  an  unskilful  manoeuvre  his  troops 
fell  into  such  a  bad  position  that  they  were 
deprived  of  cover,  and  driven  back,  taking  the  whole 
of  the  left  wing  with  them.  Both  Legrand  and 
Boudet,  who  lost  his  beloved  guns,  were  swept 
away.  At  this  critical  moment  General  Reille 
went  to  inform  the  Emperor  that  the  Austrians 
threatened  to  overpower  Massena,  whose  entire 
corps  had  been  thrown  into  disorder.  The 
Emperor  sent  Marshal  Berthier  with  the  Guard 
and  80  guns  right  across  the  field  from  right  to 
left.  He  must  have  been  reduced  to  extremities 
when  he  sent  Berthier  and  the  Guard. 

General  Lauriston  led  the  artillery  and  General 
Reille  the  young  guard  in  the  attack  on  Aderklaa, 
the  chief  point  on  the  left  wing.  Marshal  Bessi^res 
received  a  similar  order,  but  at  that  moment 
he  was  struck  by  a  very  curious  ball  on  the  leg. 
It  tore  his  trousers  as  far  as  the  knees,  and  left 
a  zig-zag  mark  on  the  leg.  The  Emperor  heard 
that  one  of  his  friends  had  been  hit,  and  had  fallen 
from  his  horse. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  135 

'  Who  is  it  ?'  he  asked,  without  turning. 

'  The  Duke  of  Istria,'  was  the  reply. 

'  Ride  on,'  said  the  Emperor  ;  '  we  have  no 
more  time  for  weeping.'  He  was  thinking  of 
Lannes. 

It  is  this  moment  in  the  battle  of  Wagram 
that  we  so  often  find  represented  in  the  photo- 
graphs of  the  great  pictures  at  Versailles.  Napoleon 
was  that  day  riding  one  of  his  most  famous 
horses.  It  was  called  '  Euphrates '  and  was  a 
present  from  the  Shah  of  Persia.  No  one  had 
ever  seen  so  white  a  horse  before  in  Europe.  In 
the  midst  of  the  hottest  fire  he  galloped  on  this 
horse  right  across  the  field,  in  front  of  the  French 
lines,  to  the  labouring  left  wing.  Savary  and  the 
other  generals,  who  followed  him  as  well  as  they 
could,  expected  every  moment  to  see  him  drop. 
The  Emperor  took  up  a  position  in  Lamarque's 
division,  and  remained  there  a  full  hour  while 
the  left  wing  was  being  restored  to  order.  He  sat 
upright  on  his  white  horse  amidst  the  shower  of 
bullets,  so  that  friend  and  foe  could  see  him  at 
the  short  distance  that  separated  fighting  armies 
in  those  days. 

Davoust  was  on  the  left  wing,  where  he  was 
opposed  to  Prince  John  of  Liechtenstein.  He  was 
ordered  to  make  a  grand  attack  on  the  village 
of  Neusiedel.  With  Davoust  were  the  cavalry- 
generals  Nansouty  and  Arrighi,  Duke  of  Padua, 
who  had  taken  the  place  of  the  fallen  d'Espagne. 
The  enemy  slowly  retreated  before  the  skilful 
manoeuvres  of  the  Duke  of  Auerstadt.  The 


136  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Emperor  told  his  servant  Roustan,  a  mameluke 
whom  he  had  brought  from  Egypt,  to  spread  a 
bear-skin  on  the  ground.  He  dismounted, 
stretched  himself  on  it,  and  went  to  sleep,  as  he 
was  accustomed  to  do.  He  had  every  right  to  be 
tired.  When  he  awoke,  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
afterwards,  he  found  a  circle  of  adjutants  with 
reports  from  all  parts  of  the  field.  He  arose 
quietly  and  turned  his  telescope  on  Neusiedel ; 
when  he  saw  that  Davoust's  troops  were  on  the 
heights,  where  he  wanted  them  to  be,  he  pushed 
in  his  telescope  again,  and  said  to  his  adjutants : 
'  Ride  to  Mass6na  and  tell  him  he  may  withdraw. 
The  battle  is  won.'  The  fight  raged  until  one  in 
the  afternoon  on  the  great  plains,  where  the 
horses  nearly  disappeared  in  the  high  corn.  At 
the  edge  of  the  battlefield  the  ripe  corn  was  set 
on  fire.  Whole  acres  of  it  were  burning,  and  the 
fire  reached  the  well-protected  train,  and  exploded 
many  of  the  powder  waggons. 

Macdonald  was  the  real  hero  of  the  day.  He 
at  length  succeeded  in  breaking  the  centre  and 
making  a  gap  in  it  that  offered  a  fine  opportunity 
for  the  cavalry  to  rush  in  and  take  prisoners  and 
spoils.  But  Murat  was  in  Spain,  Bessieres 
wounded,  d'Espagne  dead,  and,  to  crown  the 
misfortune,  General  Lasalle,  the  greatest  cavalry- 
leader  that  Napoleon  had  left,  also  fell  on  this  day. 
Lasalle  was  one  of  the  most  handsome  men  in  the 
French  army,  and  a  trained  horseman  from  his 
early  years,  but  he  had  grown  rather  wild  in  the 
course  of  time.  He  swore  and  drank,  sang  and 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  137 

rioted,  and  wasted  all  his  money.  When  he  was 
in  Egypt  he  corresponded  with  a  lady  at  Paris. 
The  English  intercepted  his  letters,  and,  with 
the  incredible  lack  of  taste  that  they  showed  in 
all  that  related  to  Napoleon,  they  published  them 
in  the  European  press.  The  lady  was  married  to 
a  brother  of  General  Berthier,  and  the  publication 
of  the  letters  caused  a  fearful  scandal,  followed  by 
divorce,  etc.,  at  Paris.  However,  Lasalle  after- 
wards married  Mme.  Berthier,  and  gradually 
reached  so  high  a  rank  that  he  became  one  of  the 
men  who  were  most  trusted  and  most  frequently 
employed  by  the  Emperor.  He  was  exceptionally 
liked  by  his  comrades.  When  he  swung  into  his 
saddle  and  drew  his  sabre,  his  men  would  follow 
him  like  the  wind  over  stock  and  stone,  through 
fire  and  blood.  But  there  was  a  wild  spirit  in 
the  light  cavalry  long  after  Lasalle's  death. 

The  night  before  the  battle  of  Wagram 
General  Lasalle  had  written  a  letter  to  the  Emperor 
asking  him  to  take  care  of  the  family  he  would 
leave  behind  him.  It  often  happened  that  even 
the  bravest  had  these  fits  of  despondency  before 
a  great  battle,  and  wrote  letters  that  had  the 
nature  of  presentiments  if  the  writer  fell. 

The  loss  of  officers  was  great  on  both  sides 
at  Wagram.  The  French  lost  Generals  Gauthier 
and  Lacour,  besides  Lasalle,  and  seven  colonels. 
Gauthier  had  distinguished  himself  under  Davoust 
at  Auerstadt.  At  Wagram  he  lost  a  leg,  and  died 
of  the  wound.  General  Gudin,  who  kept  quite 
close  to  Davoust,  and  always  fought  under  him, 


138  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

received  four  wounds  in  the  course  of  the  day. 
Twenty  other  generals,  besides  Bessieres,  were 
wounded,  but  recovered.  General  Lamarque  had 
four  horses  shot  under  him.  Massena,  on  the 
other  hand,  who  was  perhaps  most  exposed  of 
all  to  the  enemy's  fire  in  these  days,  did  not  receive 
the  slightest  scratch.  It  was  said  in  the  army 
that  Massena,  and  Murat,  and  Ney,  were  bullet- 
proof. But  it  was  considered  dangerous  to  be 
near  Massena.  The  very  spot  that  he  had  just 
left  was  shunned.  If  any  one  came  up  and 
occupied  it,  they  would  shout  to  him  that  the 
marshal  had  just  been  there. 

A  few  days  before  the  battle  Massena  had 
the  misfortune  to  collide  with  a  waggon  during  a 
reconnaissance.  He  was  so  badly  shaken  that  he 
could  not  keep  his  horse  during  the  battle,  and 
had  to  lead  his  corps  in  a  carriage.  But  when 
the  left  wing  was  n  a  dangerous  plight  he  took 
to  horse  in  spite  of  the  pain.  He  called  one  of 
his  orderlies  to  lengthen  the  stirrup,  and  by  this 
means  lifted  his  injured  leg,  with  a  great  effort, 
on  to  the  horse's  neck.  At  that  very  moment 
a  cannon-ball  came  singing  along  and  knocked 
down  the  soldier  who  was  busy  with  his  saddle. 
Massena  had  begun  his  career  as  a  private  soldier 
in  the  republican  armies,  like  Bernadotte  and 
many  others.  But  he  was  one  of  the  greatest 
leaders,  and  Napoleon  always  described  him  as 
the  first,  although  their  relations  were  not  particu- 
larly good.  Massena  was  easily  led  into  small 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  139 

intrigues  with  the  other  malcontents,  and  Napoleon 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  fact,  as  well  as  with 
the  circumstance  that  Massena  was  an  incurable 
pillager  wherever  he  went.  After  Eylau  he  had 
been  made  Duke  of  Rivoli,  and  he  now  became 
Prince  of  Esslingen. 

Napoleon  embraced  Macdonald,  and  made 
him  Marshal  and  Duke  of  Tarentum,  which  was 
rather  a  tardy  recognition  of  Macdonald' s  deeds 
and  merits.  But  it  was  some  time  before  the 
Emperor  came  to  trust  entirely  this  man  of 
Scottish  descent,  with  his  rather  stiff  and  self- 
conscious  ways.  Napoleon  never  really  liked  him. 
Macdonald  was  fairly  taU,  and  had  an  open  and 
energetic  countenance,  though  his  nose  was  too 
short.  At  the  battle  of  Wagram  he  wore  the 
antiquated  uniform  of  a  republican  general,  with 
huge  feathers  in  his  hat.  He  distinguished  himself 
wherever  he  went.  Amongst  other  things  he 
succeeded  in  arresting  the  flight  of  Bernadotte's 
Saxons,  and  inducing  them  to  advance  once  more. 
Oudinot  and  Marmont  also  received  the  marshal's 
staff.  It  was,  perhaps,  a  little  premature  for 
Marmont.  But  Napoleon  appreciated  the  brave 
and  brilliant  Marmont  in  his  cold  and  unemotional 
way. 

Bernadotte's  corps  was  dissolved,  and  he 
himself  was  sent  in  disgrace  from  the  army.  The 
army  bulletin  of  July  30th  contains  the  following 
passage :  '  The  ninth  army-corps,  which  was 
commanded  by  Ponte-Corvo,  is  dissolved.  The 


140  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Saxons  who  belonged  to  it  pass  under  the  command 
of  General  Regnier.  The  Prince  of  Ponte-Corvo 
has  gone  to  the  baths.' 

The  fact  was  that  Marshal  Bernadotte  had 
been  exceptionally  slipshod  during  the  whole 
campaign  of  1809.  He  is  never  mentioned 
amongst  the  generals  whose  bravery  decided  a 
great  battle.  But  he  continued  just  the  same  to 
swagger  and  to  criticise  the  Emperor.  The  night 
before  the  battle  he  was  sitting  in  a  circle  of 
officers,  saying  that  Napoleon's  crossing  of  the 
Danube  and  subsequent  manoeuvres  were  quite 
wrong  and  unsuccessful.  He  himself  would  have 
forced  the  Archduke,  by  a  few  well-directed 
movements,  to  surrender  almost  without  a  fight. 
When  his  Saxons  fled  on  the  following  day,  and 
Bernadotte  galloped  after  them,  the  Emperor 
stopped  him  and  asked  if  this  was  the  well-directed 
movement  with  which  he  would  crush  the  Arch- 
duke. His  spies  had  reported  to  him  the 
conversation  of  the  night  before.  It  is  certain,  at 
all  events,  that  Bernadotte's  corps  took  to  flight 
on  July  5th  at  Wagram,  and  July  6th  at  Aderklaa, 
and  Napoleon  spoke  sharply  about  him  in  the 
order  of  the  day  to  his  marshals. 

But  that  was  not  the  worst.  After  he  and 
his  corps  had  done  so  badly  in  the  battle,  the 
Prince  of  Ponte  Corvo  had  the  impudence  to  issue 
an  order  of  the  day,  a  thing  that  was  reserved  for 
the  commander-in-chief,  and  no  marshal  had  a 
right  to  do.  He  sent  out  a  proclamation  in  which 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  141 

he  claimed  the  honours  of  the  battle  of  Wagram 
for  himself  and  his  Saxons.  The  whole  army, 
and  especially  the  officers  and  the  Emperor,  were 
infuriated.  He  refused  to  see  the  marshal,  and 
wrote  to  the  Minister  of  War  at  Paris :  '  If  you 
have  occasion  to  see  the  Prince  of  Ponte  Corvo, 
inform  him  of  my  displeasure  at  the  ridiculous 
order  of  the  day  that  he  had  inserted  in  all  the 
journals ;  it  is  doubly  incorrect,  since  he  was 
complaining  to  me  all  day  about  his  Saxons. 
I  will  not  conceal  from  you  the  fact  that  the 
Prince  of  Ponte  Corvo  has  deserved  little  praise 
during  this  campaign.  To  say  the  truth,  this 
"  granite  column  "  has  been  always  in  flight.' 

The  victory  at  Wagram  was  decisive  enough, 
but  it  had  been  dearly  bought,  and  there  was  not 
the  usual  corollary  of  prisoners,  guns,  flags,  etc. 
The  day  of  the  good  old  bayonet-fights  was  over. 
The  artillery  had  to  work  hard  to  support  the 
new  infantry  columns,  which  were  swollen  with 
recruits  and  foreign  auxiliaries.  Hence  it  was 
that  more  officers  fell  than  had  been  the  case  in 
earlier  battles.  Finally,  it  seemed  to  the  Emperor 
for  the  first  time  that  he  perceived  a  certain 
amount  of  laxity  in  his  highest  generals.  He  was 
only  moderately  pleased  with  the  battle. 

On  the  Austrian  side  three  generals  were 
killed  and  ten  wounded,  including  the  Archduke 
himself.  He  had  not  spared  himself  the  whole 
day,  and  was  hit  twice.  But  he  directed  the  fight 


142  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

to  the  end  like  the  unflinching  soldier  and  great 
leader  that  he  was.  The  days  of  Aspern,  Esslingen, 
and  Wagram,  showed  what  the  brave  Austrians 
could  do  when  they  were  led  by  a  great  general. 

Napoleon  held  his  court  at  Schonbrunn  while 
the  diplomatists  were  discussing  the  terms  of 
peace.  One  day  he  was  nearly  murdered  by  a 
German  fanatic  of  the  name  of  Stabbs.  He  had 
drawn  quite  close  to  the  Emperor  during  a  parade, 
when  General  Rapp  suddenly  seized  him  at  the 
last  moment  as  a  suspicious-looking  individual- 
After  the  enormous  strain  at  Esslingen  and 
Wagram  Napoleon  had  an  attack  of  illness 
during  his  stay  at  Schonbrunn,  but  we  know 
nothing  of  its  nature.  The  high  officers  about 
him  have  never  betrayed  the  secret,  but  we  can 
gather  that  it  was  serious  from  the  anxious 
deliberations  of  Murat,  Berthier,  and  Duroc,  and 
the  haste  with  which  they  sent  for  Corvisart,  the 
Emperor's  physician,  and  a  famous  professor  at 
Vienna.  It  may  possibly  have  been  only  an 
exceptionally  bad  attack  of  dysury,  from  which 
he  suffered  as  early  as  1796,  and  at  Borodino, 
where  he  was  ill  and  kept  out  of  sight  of  the  army 
for  several  days. 

On  October  19th  peace  was  concluded  at 
Vienna,  under  sufficiently  humiliating  conditions 
for  Austria.  Although  he  waged  war  for  six  years 
afterwards,  and  won  most  brilliant  victories,  this 
peace  was  the  last  that  Napoleon  ever  effected. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  143 

Europe  never  made  peace  with  him.  On  October 
26th  he  returned  to  Fontainebleau,  having  won 
fresh  victories  for  France  and  made  his  empire 
stronger  than  ever. 


CHAPTER    IV 

In  the  years  1810  and  1811  Napoleon  was 
ruling  at  Paris.  It  was,  apparently  at  least,  his 
zenith.  The  frontiers  of  France  had  been  pushed 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  and  Rome  was  the 
second  capital  of  the  empire.  The  whole  of 
Europe  recognised  his  predominance,  with  the 
exception  of  England,  which,  in  spite  of  the  injury 
done  to  its  trade  by  its  exclusion  from  the  continent, 
always  had  money  for  those  who  dared  to  resist 
Napoleon,  and  slowly  and  surely  undermined  his 
vast  empire  from  the  Spanish  Peninsula,  and 
enfeebled  his  fighting  forces. 

The  resistance  of  the  Spaniards  became  more 
and  more  bitter  and  savage,  while  England  poured 
fresh  troops  continually  into  Portugal.  Marshal 
Soult,  Duke  of  Dalmatia,  imagined  at  one  time 
that  he  would  be  King  of  Portugal.  But  Wellington 
drove  him  out  of  Oporto  with  such  thoroughness 
that  Soult  lost  the  whole  of  his  baggage.  The 
news  of  this  battle  reached  Napoleon  the  day 
after  Aspern  and  Esslingen,  through  a  courier  that 
the  Minister  of  War  had  hastily  despatched  from 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  145 

Paris.  In  the  year  1810  there  were  400,000  of 
the  best  French  troops  in  Spain  under  leaders  like 
Soult,  Massena,  Ney,  Victor,  and  Suchet.  The 
latter  was  the  only  one  who  was  able  to  keep 
regular  government  in  his  province.  There  was 
no  cohesion,  and  there  were  many  accidents.  In 
the  course  of  time  it  came  to  be  looked  upon  as 
a  sort  of  banishment  and  a  sign  of  disgrace  when 
an  officer  at  Paris  was  ordered  to  go  to  Spain. 

The  handsome  secretary  and  palace  officer, 
Canouville,  was  one  of  Pauline's  many  lovers. 
Napoleon  had  sent  her  a  Russian  mantle  of 
exceptionally  fine  fur  and  diamond  clasps.  One 
day,  with  the  searching  eyes  that  saw  everything, 
he  recognised  his  present  in  the  secretary's  ante- 
room. An  hour  later  Canouville  was  on  his  way 
to  Spain.  It  was  somewhat  different  with  Septeuil, 
another  lion  of  the  court.  He  declined  to  see 
Pauline's  attempts  to  approach  him,  and  she  was 
so  enraged  that  the  young  officer  was  sent  to 
Spain  at  her  request.  He  had  one  of  his  legs 
shot  off  in  his  first  battle,  and  while  the  surgeons 
were  amputating  it — sawing  and  hacking  as  they 
did  a  century  ago — he  said  to  his  valet :  '  Don't 
cry.  You  will  now  have  only  one  boot  to  polish.' 
The  elaborate  equipment  of  the  French  court, 
that  the  Revolution  had  scattered  to  the  winds, 
had  at  last  been  restored  under  the  Emperor. 
It  took  a  very  different  form  from  that  it  had  had 
under  the  old  regime,  but  it  was  no  less  magnificent 
in  regard  to  the  correctness  of  etiquette  and  the 
lavish  expenditure  on  festivities.  Napoleon's  new 
K 


146  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

court  was,  of  course,  not  filled  with  aged  super- 
fluities and  useless  folk,  who  did  nothing  beyond 
drawing  their  salaries,  as  the  earlier  one  had  been. 
However,  he  revived  many  of  the  old  titles  and 
bestowed  them  on  his  own  men  and  women  ;  or 
he  attracted  men  and  women  with  ancient  names 
to  his  court,  a  thing  that  always  gave  him  great 
satisfaction.  He  used  to  say  that  no  one  could 
render  court-service  like  the  old  nobles.  A 
Montmorency  would  not  hestitate  to  stoop  and 
tie  Josephine's  shoe-laces,  but  many  of  the  new 
ladies  had  no  mind  for  acting  as  chamber-maids 
in  this  way.  He  praised  the  men  of  the  older 
nobility  in  the  same  way,  and  sent  them  on 
diplomatic  missions.  He  used  to  say  that  he 
learned  more  through  them  than  through  his  own 
people. 

At  the  same  time  he  did  not  like  his  own 
people  to  be  cast  in  the  shade  by  the  older  nobles. 
He  had  some  of  the  feeling  of  the  Revolution,  and 
rewarded  merit  without  regard  to  origin.  He 
mingled  the  old  and  the  new,  in  order  to  bring 
about  a  harmonious  system,  but  he  took  good 
care  that  one  should  not  quarrel  with  the  other. 
He  was  proud  to  have  Count  Segur,  of  the  old 
nobility,  as  his  master  of  ceremonies,  yet  he  never 
liked  even  a  hint  to  be  given  to  Marshal  Lefebvre 
about  his  unconventional  wife,  the  Duchess  of 
Dantzig,  whose  incorrect  behaviour  filled  Paris 
with  laughter  and  gave  some  consolation  to  the 
fine  courts  of  Europe.  This  attitude  of  the 
Emperor  kept  the  old  nobles  in  check  and  protected 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  147 

the  new  ones.  All  felt  that  the  sovereign  knew 
well  what  was  worthy  of  gratitude  and  honour. 
Las  Cases,  who  himself  belonged  to  a  noble  Franco- 
Spanish  family  of  distinction,  and  had  taken 
service  in  the  imperial  court  at  an  early  date — 
and  eventually  followed  the  Emperor  to  St. 
Helena — tells  us  that  he  one  day  heard  the 
following  story  about  Mme.  Lefebvre,  the  Duchess 
of  Dantzig.  She  gave  help  to  poor  emigrants, 
amongst  others  to  a  noble  family  that  was  so 
proud  and  sensitive  that  the  duchess,  knowing 
well  what  people  thought  and  said  of  her,  dare  not 
offer  it  herself.  She  therefore  went  to  the  family 
in  which  she  and  her  husband  were  at  one  time 
simple  servants,  and  gave  her  help  anonymously 
through  them.  They  themselves  belonged  to  the 
higher  social  circles.  '  When  I  heard  this,'  says 
Las  Cases,  '  I  ceased  to  make  fun  of  the  Duchess. 
I  rather  esteemed  it  a  pleasure  after  that  to  offer 
her  my  arm  at  the  Tuileries,  and  lead  her  round 
the  magnificent  rooms,  and  took  no  notice  of  the 
sarcasm  and  the  round  eyes  of  my  comrades.' 

But  though  the  mingling  of  the  new  and  the 
old  was  carried  out  with  the  utmost  discretion 
and  without  ostentation,  it  begot  neither  life  nor 
gaiety.  The  tone  of  the  Tuileries  was  stiff  and 
cold,  because  Napoleon,  not  very  pleasant  as 
First  Consul,  became  positively  disagreeable  as 
Emperor.  The  Duchess  of  Abrantes  and  the 
other  ladies  recalled  with  tears  the  happy  days 
of  Malmaison,  when  they  had  to  do  duty  in  their 
stiff  court-dresses  at  the  Tuileries,  St.  Cloud,  or 


148  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Fontainebleau.  When  they  gave  luxurious  parties 
themselves,  at  his  desire,  they  were  no  longer  free 
to  enjoy  the  dance  or  masquerade.  They  had  to 
think  of  nothing  but  him.  When  the  cry  rang 
out, '  The  Emperor,'  the  company,  already  nervous 
with  waiting,  became  as  quiet  as  mice.  The  eyes 
and  thoughts  of  all  were  on  him  to  discover  what 
sort  of  humour  he  was  in.  He  was  as  unreliable 
as  a  Sultan.  At  times  he  might  be  disposed  to 
joke ;  otherwise  he  would  at  the  most  amuse 
himself  at  their  balls  with  frightening  the  younger 
ladies  to  death  when  his  spies  had  told  him  their 
little  secrets. 

The  festivals  that  the  Emperor  gave,  or 
caused  to  be  given,  were  generally  so  tedious  that 
they  were  a  great  trial  to  the  younger  folk.  He 
held  audiences  in  the  morning  before  breakfast, 
as  the  French  kings  had  used  to  do,  when  they 
left  their  beds  and  were  clothed  by  their  valets. 
At  other  times  he  gave  large  audiences  before  one 
or  other  festival  at  the  Tuileries.  The  whole 
court  was  in  attendance,  the  ambassadors  of 
foreign  powers  being  in  the  front  rank.  The 
Emperor  would  stride  rapidly  in,  and  go  along 
the  row  of  bowing  and  bending  courtiers.  Those 
were  the  most  anxious  moments  for  the  whole  of 
Europe.  From  the  few  words  he  spoke  to  the 
ambassadors,  or  even  from  the  way  in  which  he 
would  pass  one  by  in  silence  or  offer  another  a 
pinch  of  snuff,  there  were  conclusions  drawn  all 
over  Paris  and  Europe.  It  was  like  prophesying 
from  the  grounds  in  a  tea-cup.  As  a  rule  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  149 

brief  conversations  with  the  ambassadors  ran  in 
this  wise  : 

Emperor  :  '  Why  is  your  government  gather- 
ing such  large  masses  of  troops  in  the  Tyrol.' 

Metternich  :  '  Indeed  !  your  Majesty  aston- 
ishes me  .  .  .  .' 

Emperor  :  '  Bah  !  I  know  all  about  it,  and 
I  want  a  satisfactory  explanation.' 

Metternich  :  *  I  will  send  a  courier  to  Vienna 
at  once.  Perhaps  I  could  send  my  court  by  the 
same  messenger  a  satisfactory  assurance  from  your 
Majesty  about  the  advance  of  the  Duke  of  E/agusa 
from  Italy.' 

Napoleon  :    '  How  do  you  know  that  ?' 

Metternich  :    '  Ah  !   It  is  true,  then,  Sire.' 

Napoleon :  '  Whether  it  is  true  or  not,  I 
have  no  explanation  to  give.' 

That  was  pretty  much  the  tenor  of  these  con- 
versations. They  assumed  enormous  proportions 
in  the  eyes  of  diplomatists,  and  brought  Metternich 
the  reputation  of  being  the  most  astute  of  all.  As 
a  rule,  however,  they  were  mere  bluff.  Each 
side  was  well  acquainted  with  the  other's  intrigues 
and  manoeuvres.  They  knew  also  that  it  was 
only  a  question  of  time  when  they  should  be  at 
war  again.  But  the  art  consisted  in  talking  peace 
and  meaning  war,  and  they  waltzed  round,  like 
cats  round  a  basin  of  hot  broth. 

At  this  time  Napoleon  was  still  a  handsome- 
looking  man  when  he  strode  in  on  the  waxed  floors, 
with  firm  short  steps  that  resounded  in  the 
respectful  silence,  to  the  accompaniment  of  a 


150  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

slight  jingle  of  spurs  when  he  had  his  high  boots 
on,  and  the  faint  odour  of  eau  de  cologne  that 
always  clung  to  him.  But  he  soon  became  rather 
too  stout,  and  it  increased  every  year,  even  when 
he  was  in  the  field.  The  Empress  Josephine  had 
easily  adapted  herself  to  her  high  position  at 
court  by  her  grace  and  amiability,  as  well  as  tact 
and  judgment.  The  great  men,  the  kings  and 
princes,  who  more  or  less  willingly  visited  Paris, 
looked  in  vain  for  something  to  tell  against  her. 
Even  Louis  XVIII,  when  he  returned  and  saw 
the  great  changes  in  the  Louvre  and  the  Tuileries, 
had  to  admit  that  everything  had  been  done  in 
a  style  that  neither  he  nor  anyone  else  cared  to 
alter. 

But  while  Napoleon  gave  his  court  a  pompous 
air  through  the  rules  he  had  drawn  up,  he  worked 
day  and  night  with  a  versatility  and  endurance 
that  his  contemporaries  were  never  tired  of 
admiring.  Just  as  he  injured  his  horses  by  riding 
in  the  field,  so  he  nearly  worked  to  death  the 
secretaries  and  ministers  who  were  in  his  service, 
without  ever  being  overcome  by  fatigue  himself. 
His  first  private  secretary  was  Bourrienne,  one  of 
the  friends  of  his  youth.  They  agreed  very  well 
for  a  number  of  years,  but  there  was  one  fault 
that  Napoleon  could  not  bear  or  forgive,  and  that 
was  carelessness  in  money-matters.  He  could 
forgive  his  generals  for  stupid  mistakes  when  they 
redeemed  them.  He  could  overlook  infidelity  of 
all  kinds,  even  Josephine's — he  was,  in  fact,  not 
very  sound  on  that  point  himself  ;  but  in  money- 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  151 

matters  he  tolerated  no  irregularities.  He  was  a 
terror  to  bankers  and  army-contractors.  The 
large  houses  of  the  time — Hope  of  Amsterdam, 
Lafitte,  Seguin — lived  in  daily  dread  of  fresh 
surprises  from  the  Emperor.  He  twice  ruined  the 
the  great  speculator  Ouvrard.  As  soon  as  he 
suspected  dishonesty,  or  merely  heard  of  some 
illegitimate  profit,  or  that  one  of  his  men  had  used 
his  position  to  enrich  himself,  he  came  down  on 
him  at  once. 

Marshal  Massena  once  returned  from  a 
campaign  in  Italy  with  his  pockets  well  filled. 
The  Emperor  at  once  ordered  him  to  pay  three 
million  francs  into  the  State-treasury,  without 
giving  any  explanation.  Massena  paid  without  a 
murmur ;  or,  rather,  he  only  complained  in 
private.  Another  officer,  Colonel  Solignac,  who 
had  been  with  Massena,  and  who  was  ordered  to 
pay  800,000  francs,  hesitated  to  obey,  and  was 
at  once  reduced  to  the  ranks.  However,  Solignac 
coolly  shouldered  his  gun,  and  fell  into  line  ;  and 
the  next  time  Napoleon's  eye  fell  on  him,  he 
restored  his  rank  and  command.  Solignac  had 
been  at  Napoleon's  side  in  the  junior  Council  at 
St.  Cloud  on  the  18th  Brumaire.  He  liked  best 
to  be  with  General  Massena,  and  was,  like  him, 
an  incurable  pillager. 

Bourrienne,  Napoleon's  private  secretary,  had 
the  same  weakness  in  regard  to  money,  though  it 
took  a  more  pacific  form.  Nevertheless  their 
friendship  was  at  an  end  as  soon  as  Napoleon 
found  that  his  secretary  was  using  his  position 


152  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

to  make  money.  Bourrienne  was  a  brave  man, 
with  quick  intelligence  and  a  great  capacity  for 
work.  He  was  also  devoted  to  Napoleon.  But 
he  was  tempted  when  he  saw  millions  circulating 
about  the  great  man,  who  was  himself  indifferent 
to  them,  and  he  began  very  soon  to  receive  pay- 
ments of  a  more  or  less  questionable  character. 
He  discovered,  for  instance,  that  the  Minister  of 
Police,  Fouche,  paid  100,000  francs  a  month  to 
men  who  were  in  Napoleon's  immediate  vicinity, 
to  tell  him  every  day  where  the  First  Consul  went, 
what  he  was  doing,  and  who  came  to  him. 
Bourrienne  thought  no  one  could  do  this  better 
than  himself.  He  went  to  Fouche  and  offered 
his  services.  Fouche  accepted,  and  from  that 
time  Bourrienne  received  25,000  francs  a  month 
for  the  work.  But  the  Minister  of  Police  and  Spies 
had  many  others  in  the  Tuileries  to  whom  he 
paid  large  sums.  Even  Josephine  received  1,000 
francs  a  day  for  secret  information  about  her 
husband. 

Later  Bourrienne  had  his  finger  in  all  sorts 
of  affairs,  and  at  length  he  indulged  in  large 
speculations,  in  which  millions  were  at  stake.  He 
was  secretly  a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Coulon  Freres, 
who  contracted  for  the  cavalry-supplies,  and 
went  bankrupt  for  a  million.  In  the  end  he 
became  impoverished  and  was  prosecuted  by 
his  creditors. 

After  Bourrienne,  Meneval  became  secretary, 
and  he  was  Napoleon's  favourite.  He  was  an 
extraordinary  man  in  regard  to  trustworthiness 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  153 

and  capacity  for  work.  But  he  was  completely 
worn  out ;  as  a  reward,  and  in  order  to  rest 
himself,  he  was  made  private  secretary  to  Marie 
Louise. 

The  chief  of  the  Emperor's  cabinet  was 
Maret,  Duke  of  Bassano.  He  was  a  man  of 
mediocre  talent  and  poor  character,  but  he  was 
faithful  and  devoted  to  Napoleon  to  the  last. 
He  was  generally  hated  on  account  of  his  daily 
and  intimate  converse  with  the  Emperor,  and 
because  he  stood  high  in  Napoleon's  favour ;  but 
more  evil  was  laid  to  his  charge  than  he  really 
deserved.  Talleyrand  once  said  of  him  :  *  I  only 
know  one  man  who  is  more  stupid  than  M.  Maret, 
and  that  is  the  Due  de  Bassano.'  He  was  really 
not  so  stupid,  but  thoroughly  conventional  and 
petty.  He  was  a  subordinate  flatterer  and  slave 
to  his  great  master.  Napoleon  was  one  of  the 
men  who  can  make  use  of  everything  that  has  at 
least  strength ;  and  the  Duke  of  Bassano  had  a 
capacity  for  work  that  even  the  Emperor  could 
never  exhaust.  At  the  dangerous  crisis  of  1811, 
when  Napoleon  had  most  need  of  a  cool  and 
moderate  counsellor,  he  dismissed  the  judicious 
Champagny,  Duke  of  Cadore,  and  made  Maret 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  as  he  never  expressed 
the  least  resistance  or  hesitation  when  the  Emperor 
wanted  anything. 

Still  nearer  to  Napoleon  in  daily  intercourse — 
nearer  than  any  other  of  his  generals — was  his 
warm  friend  and  counsellor,  Duroc,  Duke  of 
Friaul  and  Master  of  the  Court.  Like  most  of 


154  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  men  about  Napoleon  he  had  originally  been 
an  officer,  and  had  served  under  the  French  kings 
before  the  Revolution.  Napoleon  used  him 
exclusively  as  an  envoy  and  Master  of  the  Court 
in  everything  that  pertained  to  his  private  life — 
his  chateaux,  his  court  and  domestic  routine,  his 
journeys  and  daily  life  at  Paris,  his  family  and 
all  the  storms  that  broke  out  in  them.  Duroc 
was  quiet,  precise,  firm  and  modest.  He  was  of 
an  upright  and  well-minded  character.  Amidst 
the  chaos  of  intrigues  and  jealousies  that  gathered 
about  the  great  man — not  the  least  amongst  his 
own  family — Duroc  was  like  a  tower  rising  above 
the  waters.  He  was  ambassador  at  Vienna, 
St.  Petersburg,  Berlin,  Stockholm,  and  Copen- 
hagen, and  he  was  much  esteemed  everywhere. 
He  was  spared  Spain. 

A  very  different  man  from  him  was  another 
of  Napoleon's  immediate  servants,  who  did  not 
properly  belong  to  the  rank  of  officers.  This  was 
the  Minister  of  War,  Clarke,  Duke  of  Feltre.  He 
was  of  Irish  extraction,  and  began  his  career  as 
private  secretary  in  the  Orleans  family.  After  the 
Revolution  he  was  sent  by  the  Directors,  according 
to  their  custom,  to  watch  General  Bonaparte 
during  the  first  Italian  campaign.  In  a  few  days 
the  General  saw  through  the  spy,  and  Clarke 
candidly  confessed  it  and  offered  his  services. 
Napoleon  accepted  the  offer,  and  gradually  loaded 
him  with  gifts  and  distinctions.  Clarke  became 
ambassador,  Governor  at  Vienna  and  Berlin, 
where  he  is  still  remembered,  Minister  of  War, 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  155 

and  Duke.  When  he  married  he  received  a  dot 
from  the  Emperor's  private  purse.  He  was  the 
worst  flatterer  in  Napoleon's  service,  and  was 
always  ready  to  goad  him  on  when  the  Emperor 
was  going  too  far.  He  was  rightly  hated  for  his 
malice. 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  much  or  how  little 
influence  Napoleon's  men  had  on  his  actions. 
On  the  whole  it  may  be  said  that  their  influence 
was  very  slight  at  first,  but  it  became  stronger, 
and  in  the  days  of  his  downfall  was  greater  than 
was  desirable.  Yet  he  was  the  man  who  ruled 
everything  and  everybody.  This  was  not  merely 
because  he  wished  it ;  Napoleon's  gifts  and 
acquirements,  not  only  in  military  matters,  but 
in  almost  every  branch  of  government,  were  so 
thorough  and  superior  that  everything  came 
naturally  to  him.  Hence  every  part  of  the  State- 
machinery  became  purely  ornamental  and 
unimportant.  Communal  and  governmental 
offices  shrivelled  up  and  were  cast  in  the  shade. 
The  one  thing  that  Napoleon  cared  for  was  the 
Conseil  d'Etat,  where  he  appeared  fifty-seven 
times  in  the  days  when  his  famous  legal  code 
—the  Code  Napoleon — was  being  drawn  up.  He 
had  spies  in  this  assembly  also,  and  distributed 
money  amongst  its  members,  without  one  knowing 
what  the  other  received. 

Napoleon  was  unique  in  financial  matters. 
There  never  was  any  other  man  who  treated 
money  with  such  indifference,  yet  used  it  with 
such  prodigality  on  the  one  hand  and  such  cold 


156  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

accuracy  on  the  other.  But  he  had  his  own 
ideas,  and  was  just  as  difficult  with  financiers  and 
exchanges  as  with  his  own  ministers.  He  had 
a  faculty  for  detecting  errors  in  calculation  that 
astounded  those  about  him.  One  day  he  said  that 
there  was  an  error  of  2,000,000  francs  in  an  account 
presented  by  the  Maison  Seguin  for  supplies  to 
the  army.  The  minister  smiled  and  promised 
that  the  account  would  be  examined.  After  a 
long  search  the  error  was  detected,  and  the  firm 
refunded  the  money.  On  another  occasion  he 
went  through  the  accounts  of  an  infantry-regiment 
— he  went  through  all  of  them — and  found  an 
entry  of  16,000  francs  for  a  stay  in  Paris.  He 
declared  that  neither  the  regiment  nor  any  part 
of  it  had  been  at  Paris.  The  minister  smiled  and 
said  he  would  see  to  it ;  and  it  turned  out  that 
the  Emperor  was  right. 

It  cannot  possibly  be  all  flattery  when  we  find 
all  the  great  men  of  the  time,  French  and  foreign, 
whatever  branch  they  may  be  expert  in,  expressing 
their  astonishment  and  admiration  at  the  range 
of  his  knowledge  and  the  lucidity  with  which  he 
discussed  all  subjects.  Learned  and  gifted  men 
had  not  to  confine  themselves  with  him  to  a 
few  phrases,  as  they  generally  did  with  princes— 
who  know  nothing  beyond  what  they  have  been 
coached  in  for  a  particular  audience.  If  Napoleon 
had  made  a  poor  impression,  no  one  needed  to 
conceal  the  fact,  because  there  were  plenty  of 
people  who  would  be  glad  to  hear  it.  But  the 
truth  was  that  he  compelled  them  all  to  marvel 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  157 

at  the  clear  and  vast  mind  that  seemed  to  have 
room  for  everything. 

The  famous  chemist,  Chaptal,  was  his  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  for  four  years,  and  they  worked 
very  well  together  until  Napoleon  at  last  carelessly 
wounded  Chaptal' s  pride,  and  so  kept  him  aloof 
for  several  years.  One  night  they  worked  together 
until  very  late,  when  a  servant  entered  and 
announced  in  a  fairly  loud  tone  of  voice  that 
Mile.  Bourgoing  had  arrived.  She  was  the  famous 
and  inspired  actress  of  the  Theatre  Fran^ais. 
The  Emperor  directed  that  she  should  be  taken 
to  his  room  and  wait  there.  All  this  was  done  in 
a  tone  of  voice  that  the  minister  could  not  help 
hearing.  The  offence  was  deliberate,  for  the 
whole  of  Paris  knew  that  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  had  relations  with  the  charming  actress. 
Chaptal  at  once  put  his  papers  together,  bowed, 
and  departed.  He  sent  in  his  resignation  the 
same  night.  This  was  in  1804,  and  he  did  not 
return  until  1815,  when  he  was  Napoleon's  Minister 
of  Trade  during  the  '  Hundred  Days.' 

Another  well-known  form  of  unpleasantness 
in  Napoleon's  conversation  was  his  habit  of 
suddenly  breaking  into  anger  and  coarseness.  He 
would  fall  quite  unexpectedly  on  someone  present 
and  call  him  to  account  for  new  or  ancient  faults 
in  such  bitter  and  exasperating  language  that 
many  went  away  never  to  return.  He  used  to 
have  most  violent  encounters  with  the  foreign 
ambassadors.  Four  of  these  are  especially  famous 
— with  Lord  Whit  worth  in  1803,  with  Metternich 


158  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

in  1809,  with  Prince  Kourakin  in  1811,  and  with 
General  Balakoff  at  Wilna  on  July  12th,  1812. 
It  is  said  that  in  his  altercation  with  Lord  Whit- 
worth  Napoleon  was  so  excited  that  he  nearly 
struck  the  ambassador ;  some  say,  in  fact,  that 
he  did.  But  Lord  Whitworth's  own  account, 
which  appeared  in  1888,  does  not  say  a  word  of 
any  such  violent  action  on  the  part  of  the  First 
Consul.  There  were  some,  even  amongst  those 
who  knew  Napoleon  very  well  in  daily  life,  who 
believed  that  these  violent  and  passionate  attacks 
were  merely  deliberate  scenes,  much  like  the  one 
before  signing  the  peace  of  Campo  Formio,  when 
he  broke  Count  Cobentzl's  tea-service. 

In  the  service  and  in  intercourse  with  his 
officers  he  was  cold,  almost  repellent,  severe,  and 
inflexibly  just.  One  day  General  Gouvion  Saint- 
Cyr,  afterwards  marshal,  appeared  at  the 
Emperor's  morning  audience  at  the  Tuileries. 
Napoleon  said  quietly  to  him  : 

'  You  come  from  Naples,  General  ?' 

'  Yes,  Sire.  I  relinquished  my  command  to 
Marshal  Perignon,  whom  your  Majesty  sent  to 
relieve  me.' 

'And  no  doubt  you  have  leave  of  absence 
from  the  Minister  of  War  ?' 

'  No,  your  Majesty  ;  but  I  had  nothing  else 
to  do  at  Naples.' 

*  Unless  you  are  on  the  way  to  Naples  within 
two  hours,  you  will  be  shot  on  the  plain  of  Grenelle 
at  twelve  o'clock  precisely,'  said  the  Emperor, 
returning  his  watch  to  his  pocket. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  159 

That  was  his  method  in  the  service.  Exact 
in  all  military  matters,  he  acted  without  respect 
of  persons,  and  never  allowed  a  favourite  to  offer 
him  anything.  Such  a  man  was  bound  to  appeal 
differently  to  different  people ;  but  it  is  clear 
that  in  the  course  of  time  he  drew  the  best  and 
most  valuable  to  him  like  a  magnet. 

There  was  certainly  not  much  gaiety  about 
him  in  the  imperial  days,  but  that  was  what  he 
wanted,  and  he  was  probably  right.  All  those 
about  him  had  risen  with  him,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  keep  a  certain  distance  between  them 
and  himself.  He  had  no  sense  of  comradeship, 
no  love  of  food  or  drink,  and  never  gambled.  It 
is  true  that  in  his  early  years,  especially  during 
the  long  voyage  across  the  Mediterranean  to 
Egypt  and  back,  the  commander-in-chief  would 
join  occasionally  in  a  game  with  his  officers.  But 
he  could  never  bear  to  lose,  especially  at  cards, 
and  so  he  cheated  flagrantly,  and  no  one  dare  say 
a  word.  However,  when  he  had  finished  the 
game,  he  pushed  the  heap  of  money  away  from 
him,  and  told  them  with  a  smile  to  divide  his 
unjust  winnings  between  them. 

What  made  service  under  Napoleon  so 
attractive  was  not  merely  his  luck  in  war  and  his 
generosity,  but  chiefly  the  fact  that  he  knew  his 
men  far  better  that  most  generals  do,  and  that 
he  had  the  gift  of  making  the  whole  army  feel 
that  each  individual  was  known  to  him ;  that 
he  knew  where  they  were,  what  they  had  done, 
what  were  their  wounds  and  their  fights,  and 


160  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

where  they  had  distinguished  themselves. 
Thousands  fell  and  disappeared  from  the  ranks, 
and  the  army  was  entirely  renewed  in  the  course 
of  time ;  but  from  the  moment  when  his  eye 
first  lit  on  them,  the  young  recruits  joined  in 
an  unwavering  love  of  the  man,  and  were  ready 
to  face  death  for  him.  To  be  mentioned  in  an 
order  of  the  day  was  enough  for  a  regiment ;  a 
smile  or  a  sign  of  recognition  on  his  features  when 
he  reviewed  them,  a  few  quick  words  or  a  greeting, 
made  them  happy  for  a  long  time.  And,  if 
anything  happened  to  them  and  they  lay  fatally 
wounded,  the  Emperor  might  ride  by,  with  sabre 
and  spurs  jingling,  dismount,  and  fix  the  cross 
on  their  breast. 

The  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  which  he 
had  founded  in  the  camp  at  Boulogne  in  1805, 
became  identified  with  him,  and  as  long  as  he 
gave  it,  was  a  link  of  mutual  gratitude  between 
him  and  the  army — the  most  coveted  honour,  the 
recompense  for  wounds  and  prolonged  sufferings, 
a  pride  and  joy  to  thousands  of  brave  men. 
Though  military  interests  predominated  in  his 
mind,  Napoleon  had  an  idea  that  there  ought  to 
be  a  civil  division  of  the  Legion  of  Honour. 
It  was  with  this  object  that  he  founded 
the  Order  of  the  Iron  Crown.  But  the  idea 
that  there  ought  to  be  a  decoration  for 
civilians  did  not  fall  on  fruitful  soil.  For  a  time 
it  went  well  with  scholars  and  writers,  but  when 
the  Emperor  decorated  the  famous  soprano-tenor 
Crescentini  with  the  Iron  Crown,  after  a  perform- 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  161 

ance  of  his  favourite  opera,  Romeo  and  Juliet, 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  annoyance  felt  in  France 
and  Italy.  It  was  in  military  circles,  of  course, 
that  the  most  scorn  was  expressed  about  Cres- 
centini's  decoration.  One  night  the  officers 
present  in  a  certain  Parisian  salon  spoke  in  the 
bitterest  terms  of  this  wretched  singer,  this 
comedian,  this  buffoon  and  eunuch,  and  told  of 
their  own  battles  and  scars.  Suddenly  the  gay 
Mme.  Grassini,  the  singer,  broke  in : 

*  But  messieurs  !  messieurs  !  Have  you  com- 
pletely forgotten  poor  Crescentini's  wound  ?' 

Napoleon  still  defended  his  idea  in  the 
conversations  at  St.  Helena.  Crescentini  was  a 
great  artist  and  of  good  family,  and  Napoleon 
thought  the  decoration  would  give  great  pleasure 
to  the  Italians.  But  his  calculation  completely 
miscarried.  It  caused  nothing  but  ridicule.  If 
public  opinion  had  been  otherwise,  Talma  and 
other  actors  and  musicians  would  have  received 
the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour.  The  prejudice 
of  his  contemporaries  stayed  his  hand  wrongly, 
he  thought,  because  in  his  opinion  every  man  was 
worthy  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  who  was  an 
honour  to  his  country. 

One  of  the  things  that  gave  the  Emperor  most 
trouble  was  his  own  family.  As  soon  as  he 
realised  that  he  could  make  France  the  most 
powerful  realm  and  Paris  the  centre  of  the  world, 
he  formed  the  plan  of  gathering  the  members  of 
his  family  about  him  as  a  dynasty,  a  race  of 
princes,  like  the  old  legitimate  races,  with  his 


162  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

brothers  on  the  thrones  of  neighbouring  realms. 
But  his  family  was  made  of  very  difficult  material 
in  some  respects.  They  were  all  just  as  extrava- 
gant and  vicious  as  any  member  of  the  old  princely 
races,  and  were  very  fine-looking.  The  men  and 
women  of  his  family  were  handsome  individuals, 
some  of  them,  in  fact,  of  rare  beauty.  The  men 
could  wear  the  most  splendid  uniforms ;  indeed 
crowns  and  ermine  sat  better  on  them  than  on 
many  a  legitimate  ruler.  His  sisters  were  so 
pretty  and  well-made  (though  rather  short  in  the 
legs)  that  all  the  state  and  jewelry  they  won 
through  their  brother's  rise  only  enhanced  their 
fine  appearance,  and  entirely  harmonised  with 
their  natural  grace.  Pauline  was  one  of  the 
greatest  beauties  of  the  age.  All  of  them  had  the 
same  fine,  clear-cut  profile  and  engaging  mouth. 
They  all  had,  likewise,  the  same  love  of  life,  the 
same  levity  and  unbounded  faithlessness  in  love ; 
and  in  this  their  great  brother  was  worse  than 
all  the  others. 

Napoleon's  parents  were  strong  and  healthy 
folk.  The  mother  especially,  Letitia  Ramolino, 
was  a  fine  healthy  woman,  and  bore  her  husband 
eight  well-formed  children.  She  brought  number  two 
— the  most  remarkable  of  them  all — into  the  world 
under  very  desperate  conditions,  as  she  accom- 
panied her  husband  on  horseback  the  whole  of 
the  day  before,  when  they  were  flying  to  the 
Corsican  hills  in  the  struggle  with  the  French. 
She  held  up  bravely  to  the  end,  followed  the 
rising  splendour  of  her  son,  and  never  caused  him 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  163 

a  moment's  embarrassment  at  the  brilliant  court, 
where  she  took  her  place  as  the  stately  and 
sagacious  Mme.  Mere. 

His  sisters  brought  him  little  profit  or  pleasure. 
They  were  not  of  the  character  that  he  needed 
for  his  purposes.  He  had  disposed  of  his  sisters 
so  early  that  he  had  no  occasion  to  seek  husbands 
for  them  amongst  princes.  But  his  brothers 
were  to  be  kings,  whether  they  liked  it  or  not. 
The  eldest  of  them,  Joseph,  signed  the  treaties  of 
peace  at  Luneville  in  1801  and  Amiens  in  1802 ; 
and  in  1806,  though  he  was  a  poor  soldier,  he 
drove  out  the  King  of  Naples  and  occupied  his 
throne.  So  far  all  went  well.  But  in  1808  he 
was  to  be  King  of  Spain,  and  Murat  received  the 
gay  kingdom  of  Naples.  The  intractable  Spani- 
ards gave  Joseph  much  trouble,  and  his  kingly 
dignity  vanished  after  the  battle  of  Vittoria  in 
the  year  1813.  He  was  married  to  Julie  Clary 
of  Marseilles,  a  sister  of  Mme.  Bernadotte.  She 
left  him  shortly  after  1813. 

Joseph  was  completely  dominated  by  his 
passion  for  the  fair  sex  and  his  love  of  pleasure 
and  indolence.  He  was  thrust  against  his  char- 
acter and  inclination  into  a  career  of  high  politics 
and  great  distinctions.  *  Joseph  was  never  the 
slightest  use  to  me,'  said  Napoleon ;  c  but  he 
is  a  very  good  fellow  and  very  fond  of  me — so 
was  Julie.'  The  truth  was  that  Joseph  was  made 
for  private  life,  and  it  was  not  his  fault  that  he 
became  an  absolute  monarch.  However,  with 
the  beauty  and  the  charm  that  all  the  Bonaparte's 


164  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

possessed,  he  was  able  to  make  his  way  everywhere 
without  compromising  his  great  brother  or  his 
high  positions. 

Lucien  gave  some  help  to  his  brother  on  the 
18th  Brumaire  as  President  of  the  Council  of  the 
Five  Hundred  at  St.  Cloud,  and  he  had  diplomatic 
missions  under  the  Consulate.  He  was,  perhaps, 
the  most  sober  of  the  whole  family,  and  had  many 
natural  endowments,  a  good  deal  of  knowledge, 
and  a  firm  character.  But  he  was  resolutely 
bent  on  being  an  irreconcilable  Republican,  and 
so  after  1804  he  affected  hostility  to  his  brother. 
Those  writers  who  say  Lucien  kept  aloof  from 
public  affairs  because  he  had  no  ambition  are  on 
the  wrong  line.  He  was  nearly  bursting  with 
envy  of  Napoleon,  and  devoted  his  whole  life  to 
an  effort  to  attain  power  himself.  Hence,  when 
he  came  from  Elba  to  Paris  in  1815,  it  was  because 
he  thought  he  could  quit  Napoleon,  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  government,  and  end  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  French  Republic. 

For  his  eldest  sister,  Elisa,  who  had  married 
an  Italian  noble  named  Bacciochi  in  1797,  he 
created  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Tuscany.  His 
youngest  sister  he  married  to  Murat,  who  rose 
from  the  ranks  to  the  position  of  marshal,  Grand 
Admiral,  Prince  of  France,  and  King  of  Naples. 
The  beautiful  Pauline  was  first  married  to  General 
Leclerc,  who  died  at  Hayti ;  then  to  Camillo 
Borghese,  who  was  a  fool.  She  was,  perhaps,  the 
most  frivolous  of  them,  and  had  many  lovers. 
Otherwise  she  was  amiable,  bright,  and  always 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  165 

willing ;  but  she  was  so  extravagant  that  her 
mother  always  predicted  she  would  spend  her 
last  days  in  the  poor-house.  It  did  not  come  to 
that  pass. 

The  youngest  brother,  Jerome,  lived  until 
1860.  He  was  with  General  Leclerc  at  Hayti, 
and  led  a  fleet  to  Martinique  as  rear-admiral.  In 
1807  he  was  made  King  of  Westphalia.  He  was 
first  married  to  an  American,  Miss  Paterson,  but 
Napoleon  afterwards  secured  his  marriage  with  a 
princess  of  Wiirtemberg.  He  was  not  without 
natural  gifts,  but  when  he  was  young  it  would 
have  been  hard  to  find  a  more  arrogant,  crude, 
and  ignorant  man.  He  was  also  extravagant 
beyond  all  measure.  Napoleon  was  hard  on  him 
in  1812,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Russian  campaign, 
but  Jerome  improved  when  calamity  fell  on  the 
family.  His  rule  as  King  of  Westphalia  was 
almost  a  farce.  The  whole  thing  would  have 
been  impossible  if  Napoleon  had  not  assigned  to 
him  as  French  Ambassador  Count  Karl  Friederich 
von  Reinhardt,  whom  he  often  used  for  diplomatic 
work.  It  was  he  who  really  ruled  the  kingdom ; 
Jerome  only  amused  himself.  It  was  due  to  the 
shrewd  and  judicious  Reinhardt  that  the  whole 
administration  was  no  worse  than  it  was. 

The  last  of  Napoleon's  brothers,  the  unfortu- 
nate Louis,  suffered  at  an  early  age  from  venereal 
disease.  It  destroyed  his  life,  for  he  became 
morose  and  eccentric.  He  had  good  endowments, 
but  his  chronic  ailment  made  him  little  fitted 
for  a  life  of  ambition  and  politics.  He  accepted 


166  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

with  reluctance  the  positions  of  honour  and  the 
wealth  that  his  brother  offered  him.  He  was, 
nevertheless,  a  wealthy  man,  and  in  the  year  1802 
he  married  the  Empress's  daughter  Hortense.  In 
1806  his  brother  made  him  King  of  Holland  ; 
but  as  Louis  was  a  man  of  some  good  feeling  he 
could  not  endure  to  see  how  the  Dutch  suffered 
from  Napoleon's  continental  system,  and  in  1810 
he  resigned  the  crown. 

Fouche  affirms  as  a  well-known  and  easily 
intelligible  fact,  that  when  Josephine  could  no 
longer  doubt  her  own  sterility,  she  arranged  herself 
a  liaison  between  Napoleon  and  her  own  daughter 
Hortense,  and  at  once  married  Hortense  to  Louis 
when  she  became  enceinte.  With  such  a  beginning 
a  marriage  was  bound  to  be  unhappy.  It  is 
certain,  at  all  events,  that  Louis  acted  sometimes 
as  if  he  himself  believed  that  Napoleon  was  the 
father  of  Hortense's  eldest  son.  It  is  also  certain 
that  there  was  exceptional  mourning  at  the 
Tuileries  when  the  little  prince  died  of  an  infantile 
disease.  There  were  many  indications  that 
Napoleon  intended  to  adopt  the  child  and  educate 
him  as  his  successor. 

Queen  Hortense  never  lived  peacefully  with 
her  husband,  and  she  was  divorced  in  1815.  She 
was  extremely  frivolous,  and  in  view  of  the  malady 
of  her  husband  it  seems  hardly  probable  that  any 
of  her  sons  were  his.  The  first  was  the  little 
Napoleon,  who  died,  and  was  believed  to  be  the 
son  of  the  great  Napoleon.  The  second  became 
Grand  Duke  of  Berg,  and  married  his  cousin,  a 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  167 

daughter  of  King  Jerome.  The  third  was  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  III,  probably  the  son  of  the 
Dutch  Admiral  Verhuel.  The  latter  two  had 
taken  part  in  some  trouble  in  Italy,  and  on  that 
account  King  Louis  wrote  the  following  letter  to 
Pope  Gregory  XVI  in  1830 : 

'  Holy  Father  !  My  heart  is  overcome  with 
sorrow  and  indignation  since  I  have  heard  that 
my  sons  have  taken  part  in  the  criminal  revolt 
against  your  Holiness's  authority.  My  life,  which 
was  already  full  enough  of  care,  has  been  still 
further  embittered  by  the  knowledge  that  one 
of  my  kindred  could  forget  all  your  kindness  to 
my  unhappy  family.  The  unfortunate  young 
man  is  dead ;  God  be  merciful  to  him.  As  to 
the  other  who  bears  my  name,  he  has,  thank  God, 
nothing  to  do  with  me,  as  your  Holiness  is  aware. 
I  have  had  the  misfortune  to  marry  a  Messalina, 
who  bore  children.' 

Hor tense's  fourth  son,  afterwards  Duke  of 
Morny,  was  the  son  of  Count  Flahault. 

Among  these  terrible  Bonapartes  Josephine 
was  a  refined  and  radiant  form ;  though  she  also 
had  had  her  escapades  in  the  salons  of  Barras  and 
the  other  revolutionary  chiefs,  and  at  least  once, 
while  Napoleon  was  in  Egypt,  had  had  a  brief 
liaison  with  an  undistinguished  officer.  But  she 
had  a  warm  love  of  Napoleon,  and  he  on  his  side 
accorded  her  the  highest  mark  of  confidence  that 
he  was  capable  of  to  a  woman  when  he  said  that 
he  was  sure  Josephine  would  leave  a  rendezvous 
if  a  message  came  to  her  from  him.  They  slept 


168  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

in  the  same  bedroom  at  first  like  good  bourgeois. 
But  in  1805  Napoleon,  at  the  Boulogne  camp, 
was  detained  far  into  the  night  with  State  matters. 
Josephine  was  so  foolish  as  to  make  a  scene 
when  he  came  to  bed.  Napoleon  was  angry, 
and  from  that  moment  he  could  never  be  prevailed 
upon  to  return  to  the  old  arrangement,  even  with 
Marie  Louise.  He  knew  the  species. 

Josephine  was  not  very  judicious,  yet  she 
interfered  little  in  things  that  she  did  not  under- 
stand, and  gave  her  busy  husband  as  little  trouble 
as  possible.  It  was  enough  for  her  if  she  could 
retain  his  affection ;  and  when  other  matters 
estranged  him  from  her,  she  tried  every  means  in 
her  power  to  regain  it.  She  attended  to  all  his 
needs,  and  was  generally  such  an  Empress  as  he 
would  desire  ;  and  she  would  not  allow  the  clergy 
to  come  any  nearer  than  he  wanted,  though  she 
was  religious  in  her  way. 

She  once  told  the  Archbishop  of  Nantes  in 
the  confessional  that  she  ate  meat  on  Fridays. 

6  Does  the  Emperor  do  the  same  ?'  asked  the 
bishop. 

'  Yes.' 

c  Very  well,  then,  do  as  he  does.  Your 
Majesty  may  be  sure  that  he  has  a  special 
dispensation  for  himself  and  his  family.' 

But  when  Josephine,  to  make  quite  sure,  put 
the  same  question  to  Cardinal  Fesch,  he  replied 
that  when  the  Emperor  wanted  her  to  break  the 
fast  she  was  to  throw  the  plate  in  his  face.  '  The 
doctors  differ,'  said  Napoleon,  laughing,  as  he 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  169 

told  Chaptal  the  story,  which  he  had  heard  from 
Josephine.  '  The  bishop  is  right ;  the  other  is  a 
fool.  He  wants  to  give  himself  an  air  of  austerity 
that  does  not  go  well  with  his  own  private  life.' 

In  the  course  of  time  Josephine  became  more 
and  more  nervous  and  strained  when  it  was  seen 
that  she  would  have  no  more  children  than  the 
two  she  had  borne  to  her  first  husband,  General 
Beauharnais — Eugene  and  Hortense.  She  brooded 
constantly  over  it,  and  she  could  see  that 
Napoleon  also  did  so.  She  tried  every  possible 
means  and  advice,  and  even  suggested  to  Napoleon 
a  fictitious  pregnancy  and  an  adopted  child.  She 
had  a  presentiment  long  before  it  came  that 
there  would  be  a  divorce. 

Her  extravagance  was  unbounded  and  almost 
amounted  to  a  mania.  It  was  impossible  for 
her  to  resist  the  jewellers  and  dressmakers  when 
they  came  to  her  rooms  with  the  finest  trinkets 
and  richest  toilets  that  the  best  artists  of  Paris 
had  produced — all  of  fabulous  prices.  She  had 
an  incredible  number  of  hats,  the  cost  of  which 
was  enormous  during  a  single  season,  and  she  lived 
in  constant  dread  of  her  bills,  though  Napoleon 
paid  freely  and  generously.  His  Empress  could 
afford  to  be  extravagant.  She  must  put  all  the 
other  princesses  of  Europe  in  the  shade.  There 
was  no  niggardliness  about  her  husband.  But  he 
could  not  bear  himself  or  her  to  be  cheated,  and 
he  knew  that  Josephine  was  paying  seven  times 
the  price  of  things,  because  she  had  no  more  idea 
of  money  than  a  bird.  Hence,  when  he  was 


170  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

settling  her  bills,  he  never  paid  the  full  price,  but 
offered  the  vendors  a  half  or  three-fourths  of  the 
sum.  They  generally  took  it,  and  did  good 
business.  But  he  never  got  to  the  bottom  of  her 
bills,  as  she  always  concealed  the  worst  from  him, 
although  she  must  have  known  that  they  would 
all  come  to  light  one  day.  Josephine's  first  word 
was  always  '  No.'  She  denied  things  by  instinct. 
Hence  she  lived  in  an  ocean  of  debts,  and  the 
flood  of  bills  even  found  its  way  to  Elba. 

Otherwise,  and  in  so  far  as  there  can 
be  any  question  of  female  influence  on 
Napoleon,  Josephine  was  certainly  the  most 
suitable  wife  for  him.  If  she  had  only  been 
able  to  bear  him  a  child — even  a  girl — Napoleon 
would  never  have  parted  with  her.  He  did  not 
propose  the  new  marriage  because  he  was  dis- 
contented with  Josephine,  still  less  because  he 
loved  anybody  else,  nor  in  any  desire  for  a  more 
distinguished  partner.  He  was  quite  high  enough 
to  afford  the  luxury  of  retaining  the  woman  to 
whom  he  had  always  returned,  and  he  was  very 
unwilling  to  inflict  on  Josephine  the  pain  and 
humiliation  of  a  separation.  But  fortune  had 
favoured  him,  and  he  felt  bound  to  put  himself 
right  for  the  future  by  ensuring  descendants. 
Moreover,  his  followers  were  hinting  every  day 
—some  quite  openly,  others  by  suggestion — that 
all  the  legitimate  princely  houses  had  their  future 
assured  ;  he  alone  was  without  past  and  without 
future.  He  must  found  a  Bonaparte  dynasty. 

It  has  seemed  to  many  that  the  man  was 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  171 

insatiable,  and  was  driven  from  one  delusive  plan 
to  another  by  his  unbounded  ambition.  But, 
apart  from  the  great  masters  of  politics  who  have 
never  sought  anything  for  themselves,  but  been 
raised  higher  and  higher  by  the  admiration  and 
affection  of  their  compatriots,  it  seems  to  me 
that  we  all,  in  our  various  ways,  seek  self- 
expression.  When  Napoleon  saw  that  he  had 
met  all  the  claims  that  his  wonderful  fate  had 
made  on  him,  he  had  no  reason  to  halt.  He 
rightly  felt  that  he  was  so  far  superior  to  other 
princes  that  the  first  place  amongst  them  fell 
naturally  to  him,  at  the  head  of  his  great  nation  ; 
and  this  expressly  demanded  of  him  some  security 
for  the  future.  He  only  hesitated  so  long  to  take 
the  painful  step  out  of  tenderness  for  Josephine  ; 
there  is  no  ground  whatever  for  doubting  that 
the  step  was  very  painful  to  him.  As  in  all 
other  matters,  Napoleon  once  more  distinguished 
himself  from  other  kings  and  princes  who  had  a 
mind  to  repudiate  their  wives.  No  bull  came 
from  the  pope ;  no  black  ring  of  priests  terrified 
the  poor  queen ;  there  was  no  incriminating 
law-suit  with  bought  witnesses  and  charges  of 
infidelity.  Even  in  his  separation  from  his  wife 
he  was  a  perfect  gentleman,  a  grand  seigneur ; 
and  the  usual  order  and  ceremony  were  observed 
as  to  form. 

On  her  side  Josephine  deserves  all  praise  for 
the  way  in  which  she  met  her  hard  fate,  when  all 
hope  was  lost.  She  remained  a  true  friend  of 
Napoleon,  and  never  put  herself  in  the  way  of  the 


172  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

new  wife  and  Empress.  We  rarely  find  so  clear 
and  clean  a  light  on  the  relation  between  two 
eminent  personages  as  in  the  case  of  these  two  at 
the  time  of  their  separation.  When  Napoleon's 
mind  was  made  up,  he  directed  Eugene  Beau- 
harnais  to  go  and  explain  to  his  mother  that  the 
divorce  was  now  unavoidable,  for  political  reasons, 
as  France  demanded  the  continuation  of  the 
Bonaparte  dynasty.  The  viceroy  conducted  the 
affair  in  the  admirable  spirit  that  he  always 
showed.  He  had  not  only  developed  into  a 
courageous  and  reliable  officer,  but  was  also  a 
man  of  honour  in  every  respect,  and  a  good  son 
to  his  mother  and  his  step-father.  Napoleon  had 
a  high  opinion  of  him,  though  he  never  gave  the 
least  indication  of  looking  on  Eugene  as  a  possible 
successor.  Josephine  had  long  hoped  that  he 
would  do  so,  but  she  was  too  prudent  and  reserved 
ever  to  ask  anything  for  her  son.  She  wanted  to 
leave  it  entirely  to  Napoleon  to  advance  him. 

As  the  widow  of  General  Beauharnais,  who 
had  been  guillotined,  she  had  lived  in  such 
straitened  circumstances  that  Hortense  had  been 
sent  to  learn  dressmaking  and  Eugene  to  learn 
carpentering,  when  Napoleon  appeared  as  a  suitor. 
Now  Hortense  was  Queen  of  Holland,  and  Eugene 
Duke  of  Leuchtenberg,  Prince  of  Eichstadt, 
Prince  of  France,  and  Viceroy  of  Italy. 

On  the  evening  of  December  15th,  1805, 
Prince  Cambaceres,  the  chancellor  of  the  empire, 
and  Count  Regnault  assembled  with  the  whole 
imperial  family  at  the  Tuileries.  Josephine  gave 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  173 

her  consent  to  the  dissolution  of  the  marriage, 
after  Napoleon  had  thanked  her  in  sincere  and 
moving  words  for  the  happiness  they  had  had 
together  for  fifteen  years.  The  divorce  was 
communicated  to  the  Senate  the  following  day. 
Eugene  again  appeared  and  expressed  the  loyal 
attitude  of  his  mother  and  the  sacrifice  she 
willingly  made  for  her  country.  The  marriage 
was  then  declared  invalid  on  the  ground  that  a 
priest  and  two  witnesses  were  not  present  at  its 
celebration. 

General  Bonaparte's  civil  marriage  of  1796 
was  effected  by  no  other  formality  than  registering 
before  the  proper  republican  authorities.  Berna- 
dotte  and  the  other  officers  were  married  in  the 
same  way.  According  to  French  law  it  could  be 
dissolved  by  the  consent  of  the  contracting 
parties.  It  was,  therefore,  not  this  marriage  that 
the  Senate  had  to  dissolve  before  Napoleon  could 
marry  a  Catholic  princess.  But  when  the  coro- 
nation of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  drew  near 
in  1804,  Cardinal  Fesch  feared  that  the  republican 
marriage  would  put  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
Josephine's  coronation,  and  proposed  that  he 
should  marry  them  in  the  Tuileries,  a  few  days 
before  the  coronation,  but  with  closed  doors  and 
no  witnesses.  When  Josephine  learned,  at  the 
time  of  the  divorce,  that  her  marriage  had  been 
declared  invalid,  she  sent  for  Fesch  to  Malmaison, 
and  he  gave  her  a  legal  certificate  of  marriage. 
However,  she  made  no  use  of  this  document,  and 
was  content  to  keep  it  in  her  possession. 


174  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

'  1 

In  a  sense  both  the  cardinal  and  the  Senate 

were  right.  In  French  law  the  marriage  was 
invalid  because  there  were  no  witnesses.  But 
according  to  the  Canon  Law  of  the  Church  a 
marriage  of  this  kind  may  be  valid  when  it  is 
conducted  by  a  cardinal.  However,  Napoleon 
had  to  pay  a  fine  of  six  francs  to  the  poor,  because 
he  had  omitted  to  have  witnesses. 

The  divorce  caused  the  greatest  excitement 
in  all  the  European  courts.  If  he  decided  to 
contract  a  fresh  marriage,  it  was  clear  that  he 
would  seek  his  wife  in  the  most  elevated  circles. 
For  some  time  there  was  question  of  a  princess 
of  Saxony,  whom  he  could  easily  marry,  but 
Napoleon  himself  desired  a  Russian  princess,  one 
of  the  Tsar's  sisters.  Alexander  acted  as  though 
he  was  extremely  flattered  by  Napoleon's  choice, 
but  begged  a  postponement  on  account  of  the 
youth  of  the  Grand  Princess.  He  knew  as  well 
as  anybody  that  there  was  no  question  of  delay. 

On  March  1st,  1810,  Marshal  Berthier,  Prince 
of  Neuchatel,  went  to  Vienna  to  ask  the  hand 
of  the  Archduchess  Marie  Louise  for  the  Emperor 
of  France.  The  preliminaries  had  already  taken 
place,  and  the  Emperor  Francis  met  the  suit 
with  the  greatest  complaisance.  It  must,  however, 
have  been  hard  for  the  old  Hapsburger  to  give 
his  own  daughter  to  bear  children  to  the  man 
who  had  humiliated  Austria,  beaten  her  armies, 
and  brought  the  house  of  Hapsburg  to  the  dust 
time  after  time ;  and  he  a  mere  Corsican 
adventurer. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  175 

On  March  llth,  Marie  Louise  was  entrusted 
to  Berthier  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  and  two 
days  afterwards  they  left  Vienna.  She  was 
accompanied  by  a  suite  of  300  persons.  Between 
Braunau  and  Altheim  Napoleon  had,  in  an 
incredibly  short  time,  erected  a  very  large  and 
handsomely  decorated  wooden  structure.  At  one 
end  of  the  building  was  Austria,  at  the  other 
France,  with  a  neutral  space  between.  Here  the 
Queen  of  Naples,  Caroline  Murat,  went  down  from 
Paris  with  a  numerous  escort,  and  received 
Marie  Louise.  The  archduchess,  who  then  received 
the  title  of  Empress,  was  conducted  from  Austria 
into  France  with  a  splendid  ceremony  arranged 
by  the  Emperor  himself.  The  bridal  gifts  he 
sent  her  included  a  trousseau  of  the  finest  Parisian 
work  and  taste,  and  put  in  the  shade  anything 
that  Vienna  could  offer  the  ladies  of  the  court. 

After  the  ceremonies  the  Empress  continued 
her  journey  westward  in  short  daily  stages,  as 
was  customary  a  century  ago.  Large  carriages 
with  four  horses  were  ready  at  each  stage,  and 
no  time  was  lost.  She  had  now  parted  from  her 
Viennese  friends,  and  was  only  accompanied  by 
the  small  temporary  French  court  that  the 
Emperor  had  sent.  At  each  station  where  they 
were  to  spend  a  night  she  found  a  letter  from 
her  gallant  bridegroom.  March  29th  was  to  be 
the  last  day  of  the  journey.  She  was  to  reach 
the  castle  of  Compiegne  in  the  evening,  where 
the  Emperor  and  all  his  family  awaited  her,  and 
Berthier  was  to  present  the  kneeling  Empress  to 
Napoleon  on  the  following  day. 


176  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

But  the  whole  of  these  arrangements  were 
upset.  When  all  Napoleon's  preparations  were 
made,  he  took  Murat  and  slipped  out  of  the  castle 
in  the  grey  coat  he  had  worn  at  Wagram.  They 
drove  to  meet  the  Empress  in  a  simple  carriage, 
with  one  coachman  without  livery.  When  they 
reached  Courcelles,  in  the  pouring  rain,  they 
drove  under  the  porch  of  an  old  church,  and 
waited  for  the  Empress  and  her  suite.  It  was 
the  last  spot  for  changing  horses,  and  the  moment 
the  Empress's  carriage  drove  up  Napoleon  hastened 
to  it.  The  next  morning  they  had  breakfast 
together  in  the  Empress's  bedroom.  The  frightful 
scandal  flew  through  Europe,  and  shook  the  very 
pillars  of  Viennese  society. 

On  March  30th  the  civil  marriage  was 
completed  at  St.  Cloud,  and  on  the  following  day 
the  newly-wedded  pair  made  a  triumphant  entry 
into  Paris,  followed  by  a  festival  at  the  Louvre 
which  Napoleon  had  arranged,  according  to  his 
own  taste,  on  the  most  magnificent  scale.  Part 
of  the  Louvre  waa  used  for  the  festivity.  There 
were  tribunes  for  kings  and  princes,  ambassadors, 
and  marshals.  The  imperial  family  stood  round 
Napoleon  and  Marie  Louise  in  all  their  beauty 
and  splendour,  besides  all  the  nobles  and  poten- 
tates in  France  and  a  number  of  foreigners. 
Altogether  there  were  about  8,000  persons. 

A  shadow  was  cast  on  the  festive  period  that 
followed  the  marriage.  Some  two  months  after- 
wards a  terrible  fire  broke  out  at  a  ball  given 
by  the  Austrian  ambassador,  Prince  Schwartzen- 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  177 

berg,  in  honour  of  his  master's  daughter.  The 
accident  not  only  cost  the  lives  of  several  persons 
and  interrupted  the  festive  spirit,  but  it  reminded 
contemporaries  of  a  similar  mishap  that  had 
occurred  the  last  time  an  Austrian  Archduchess 
married  a  French  ruler — in  1770,  when  Marie 
Antoinette  married  Louis  XVI.  Prince  Schwart- 
zenberg  had  committed  one  of  those  impru- 
dent acts  that  we  often  read  of  in  connection 
with  the  old  Parisian  palaces.  To  provide  a  room 
for  the  dancing  the  inner  court  of  the  hotel  had 
been  converted  into  a  large  hall.  A  wooden 
floor  had  been  put  in,  with  steps  and  approaches 
to  the  other  rooms  and  the  corridors,  a  roof  of 
canvas  was  stretched  over  it,  and  the  walls  were 
hung  with  beautiful  curtains  and  tapestry,  and 
decorated  with  an  infinite  number  of  flowers  and 
candles. 

It  is  dangerous  enough  to-day,  for  all  our 
electric-light  and  modern  heating-apparatus.  At 
that  time,  when  illumination  had  to  be  got  by 
thousands  of  wax  candles,  it  was  pure  folly.  It 
only  needed  one  curtain  to  fall  over  a  chandelier, 
as  they  danced  or  crowded  on  the  steps,  and  the 
whole  would  be  in  flames  in  three  minutes.  That 
was  what  happened,  at  the  very  height  of  the 
festivities.  The  Emperor  did  not  wait  for  assist- 
ance, but  quietly  took  his  wife  in  his  arms  like 
a  good  bourgeois,  and  carried  her  into  the  security 
of  the  palace.  Many  were  killed,  especially 
ladies,  whose  light  dresses  caught  fire  at  once,  and 
who  fell  and  were  suffocated  in  the  crowd,  or  ran 


178  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

in  flames  into  the  garden.  There  were  plenty  of 
men  there  who  were  accustomed  to  keep  their 
heads  in  the  greatest  danger,  but  the  whole  thing 
passed  with  such  frightful  rapidity.  The  cavalry- 
general,  Durosnel,  found  his  wife,  and  carried  her 
out  of  the  crowd.  As  he  pushed  through  he  saw 
a  hand  stealing  a  valuable  comb  from  her  hair 
without  being  able  to  prevent  it. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1810,  Napoleon 
received  a  request  from  Norway  that  led  to  the 
appointment  of  Marshal  Bernadotte,  Prince  of 
Ponte  Corvo,  as  Crown-prince  and  successor  to 
the  throne  of  Sweden.  During  and  after  the 
Consulate  Bernadotte  was  a  secret  enemy  of 
Bonaparte's.  Napoleon  treated  him  with  the 
greatest  generosity,  but  it  was  returned  with 
ingratitude.  On  the  18th  Brumaire  he  held  back 
until  he  saw  whether  Napoleon's  coup  failed.  When 
it  succeeded  Bernadotte  at  once  joined  him,  and 
began  fresh  intrigues  against  him.  Although 
Napoleon  was  fully  informed  of  it  all,  he  made 
Bernadotte  marshal  at  the  first  selection,  gave 
him  the  grand  cross  and  the  title  of  Prince  of 
France  and  Duke  of  Ponte  Corvo,  with  considerable 
revenues,  and  in  the  end  appointed  him  King  of 
Sweden  with  a  gift  of  a  million  francs  out  of  the 
Emperor's  private  purse.  Bernadotte  repaid  it 
all  with  ingratitude  and  treachery. 

In  1799,  when  Napoleon  was  in  Egypt,  Joseph 
Bonaparte  married  his  wife's  sister  to  General 
Bernadotte.  The  Miles.  Clary  were  the  daughters 
of  a  merchant  at  Marseilles,  and  Desiree,  who 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  179 

became  Mme.  Bernadotte,  had  been  Bonaparte's 
first  love.  She  was  afterwards  to  marry  a  General 
Duphot,  but  he  was  murdered  at  Rome  at  the 
very  time  appointed  for  the  wedding.  In  the  end 
she  married  Bernadotte,  and  his  continuous  rise, 
until  he  became  king,  was  entirely  due  to  his 
marriage  with  Napoleon's  friend.  Bernadotte 
had  no  great  name  in  military  circles.  There 
were  twenty  generals  in  France,  who  had  com- 
manded independent  army-corps,  whose  name 
and  fame  put  his  entirely  in  the  shade.  He  was 
at  the  same  time  wholly  uneducated  and  little 
liked  in  the  army.  But  when  Napoleon  became 
Emperor,  he  was  pleased  to  make  his  early  love 
a  princess  and  a  queen. 

Their  son  was  Napoleon's  god-child.  They 
had  deferred  baptising  him  until  Napoleon's 
return  from  Egypt,  and  the  name  Oscar  had  been 
chosen  by  Napoleon  himself ;  it  was  taken  from 
Ossian's  poem,  over  which  he  and  his  contem- 
poraries were  very  enthusiastic.  That  was  how 
the  kings  of  Sweden  came  to  bear  a  name  taken 
from  the  supposed  poetry  of  the  ancient  Scottish 
bard.  Neither  Napoleon  nor  anyone  else  then 
suspected  that  the  work  was  a  forgery  of  Mac- 
pherson's. 

It  was  really  a  small  party  of  nobles  and 
officers  that  pressed  the  aged  and  childless  King  of 
Sweden  to  ask  Napoleon  for  a  Prince  of  France 
as  successor  to  the  throne.  They  had  at  first 
thought  of  the  Viceroy  of  Italy,  but  the  need  for 
changing  his  religion  proved  an  insurmountable 


180  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

obstacle — especially  for  the  viceroy.  As  there 
was  no  other  prince  of  France  except  Ponte  Corvo 
the  choice  fell  on  him,  and  Napoleon  consented. 
As  soon  as  it  was  all  arranged  Jean  Baptiste 
Bernadotte  promptly  embraced  the  Lutheran 
creed  !  His  wife's  conversion  was  not  quite  so 
speedy.  Indeed  she  seemed  to  be  in  no  hurry  to 
leave  the  court  at  Paris  and  go  to  Stockholm. 

'  I  might  be  enthusiastic  about  Josephine,' 
said  a  contemporary,  '  but  I  should  be  quite  the 
opposite  with  the  wife  of  Marshal  Bernadotte. 
Her  intolerable  pride  repelled  everybody,  and  her 
way  of  conducting  herself  is  very  much  out  of 
place  now  that  she  is  Queen  of  Sweden,  and  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  amiability  of  Josephine, 
and  even  of  Hortense.' 

However,  this  was  a  small  matter  in  com- 
parison with  other  liberties  she  took,  in  spite  of 
her  pride  and  her  regal  position.  The  whole  of 
Europe  was  scandalised  by  the  way  in  which  she 
ran  after  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  whom  she  loved. 
The  duke  himself  writes  in  a  letter  that  is  dated 
from  Zurich,  July  19th,  1819 :  '  This  morning 
I  found  a  bouquet  on  my  table  at  the  hotel.  So 
my  infatuated  queen  has  come  here.'  On  the 
25th  he  again  wrote  to  one  of  his  friends :  *  My 
infatuated  queen  is  here  in  the  profoundest 
incognito,  and  so  heavily  veiled  that  when  I  meet 
her  I  can  never  be  quite  sure  it  is  she.  This  sort 
of  things  gets  rather  troublesome.'  At  the  time 
the  women  of  Norway  were  meeting  at  church 
every  Sunday  and  offering  prayer  for  the  mother 
of  their  country.  It  was  not  superfluous. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  181 

Bernadotte  went  at  once  to  Sweden,  where 
Charles  III  adopted  him  as  his  son.  On  November 
1st  he  took  the  oath  as  Crown-prince,  and  on  the 
15th  the  Swedish  government  allied  itself  with 
Napoleon,  and  joined  the  continental  system 
against  Great  Britain.  Sweden  had  played  a 
very  poor  part  during  the  whole  of  the  Napoleonic 
wars,  but  it  was  soon  to  astonish  Europe  with  its 
infidelity.  As  the  old  king  grew  feebler,  Sweden's 
policy  reflected  more  and  more  the  nature  of  the 
intriguing  and  untruthful  Gascon.  It  was  well 
known  in  what  intrigues  and  conspiracies  he  had 
been  involved  since  the  beginning  of  1804,  before 
the  great  conspiracy  of  Georges  Cadoudal  and 
the  royalists. 

He  had  at  that  time  a  command  in  the 
north-west  of  France,  and  a  revolt  was  planned 
amongst  the  soldiers  of  the  Rennes  garrison  with 
the  object  of  breaking  into  insurrection  against 
the  First  Consul  on  an  appointed  day.  Shortly 
before  this  date  Bernadotte  slunk  to  Paris  on  the 
pretext  that  he  must  be  there  when  the  rising 
took  place,  though  his  real  object  was,  of  course, 
to  be  out  of  the  way  in  case  of  the  affair  failing 
at  Rennes,  as  it  actually  did.  The  conspiracy 
was  discovered  on  the  very  day  the  trouble  was 
to  begin,  and  the  proclamations  that  were  to  be 
spread  amongst  the  people,  and  that  contained 
the  names  of  Bernadotte  and  Moreau,  were  confis- 
cated. Bernadotte  was  saved  by  the  fact  that 
he  had  given  nothing  in  writing,  and  his  guilt 
could  not  be  proved.  But  a  young  son  of  General 


182  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Marbot,  an  adjutant  of  Bernadotte's  had  had  his 
carriage  filled  with  these  dangerous  proclamations, 
without  his  knowledge.  He  was  at  once  arrested 
and  his  mother  implored  Bernadotte's  aid.  He 
had  been  a  friend  of  General  Marbot,  and  was 
guardian  of  his  sons  ;  and  it  was  the  conspirators 
who  had  put  the  proclamations  in  the  young  man's 
carriage.  Bernadotte  promised  everything — and 
did  nothing.  Mme.  Marbot  ran  from  one  to 
another,  and  at  last  obtained  a  promise  from 
Napoleon  that  her  son  would  be  released  if 
General  Bernadotte  personally  requested  it.  The 
lady  hastened  with  this  information  to  Bernadotte. 
He  delivered  a  short  speech  on  friendship,  etc., 
and  promised  to  see  Bonaparte  the  same  evening. 
He  did  not ;  but  departed  the  same  night  with 
his  wife  to  the  baths  of  Plombieres.  When 
Bonaparte  heard  it,  he  said  :  '  Yes,  I  know  him.' 
The  young  Marbot  was  released,  but  Napoleon 
always  distrusted  him. 

The  struggle  in  the  Spanish  Peninsula  went 
on  vigorously  in  the  years  1810  and  1811.  Massena 
was  unlucky  for  the  first  time  in  his  life.  He 
fought  Wellington  in  Portugal  and  lost  the  battle 
of  Busaco.  Although  he  had  Ney  and  Junot  and 
General  Reynier  with  him,  he  was  powerless 
against  Wellington's  splendid  entrenchments  at 
Torres  Vedras.  In  Spain  things  went  a  little 
better  for  the  French.  Marshals  Soult  and  Suchet 
had  the  supreme  command  there,  but  the  right 
force  for  controlling  the  whole  had  gone  when  the 
Emperor  departed.  Marshal  Victor  had  the  good 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  183 

fortune  to  free  600  of  those  who  had  been  taken 
prisoners  at  Baylen.  His  corps  was  on  board  a 
section  of  the  fleet  that  lay  in  the  roads  at  Cadiz. 
When  the  unfortunate  prisoners,  who  were  at 
work  dredging  in  the  harbour,  saw  the  French  flag, 
they  seized  a  wretched  little  ferry-boat,  without 
any  tackle,  and  rowed  through  the  hot  fire  of  the 
Spanish  and  English  warships  out  into  the  roads, 
where  they  were  picked  up  by  their  delighted 
countrymen. 

But  Napoleon  had  turned  his  eyes  eastward, 
now  that  the  divorce  was  effected  and  the  new 
marriage  answered  his  expectations  so  well.  On 
March  20th,  1811,  Paris  was  in  a  state  of  feverish 
excitement.  They  knew  that  the  Empress  was 
approaching  confinement.  But  serious  difficulties 
arose,  and  the  life  either  of  the  mother  or  the 
child  might  be  endangered.  Dr.  Dubois  went  to 
the  Emperor,  who  was  in  one  of  the  adjacent 
rooms.  The  physician  wanted  to  know  if  he  was 
to  look  mainly  to  saving  the  child  or  the  mother. 
4  You  will  treat  the  Empress,'  said  Napoleon 
warmly,  *  as  if  you  were  assisting  an  ordinary 
patient  in  one  of  the  slums  of  Paris.'  Dr.  Dubois 
returned  to  the  Empress,  threw  off  his  coat,  and 
set  to  work.  The  child  was  in  a  serious  condition 
when  it  came  into  the  world,  but  it  recovered. 
As  soon  as  it  did  so  the  Emperor  took  it  from  the 
nurse  and  carried  it  into  the  large  hall,  where  the 
dignitaries  of  the  realm  were  waiting  in  the 
greatest  tension. 


184  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

'  Here  is  the  King  of  Rome,'  cried  the  Emperor, 
who  was — for  once — beside  himself  with  joy. 

At  the  same  moment  the  cannons  of  the 
Invalides  opened  fire,  and  announced  to  Paris  that 
the  Emperor  had  a  child.  At  the  first  shot 
Paris  stood  still  and  held  its  breath.  Everybody 
— men,  women,  and  children  who  could  do  so— 
was  counting.  They  knew  that  if  the  guns  fired 
twenty-one  shots  it  was  only  a  princess ;  if 
twenty-two,  then  the  roar  would  go  on  up  to  a 
hundred,  for  it  meant  the  birth  of  a  son,  an  heir 
to  the  throne,  Napoleon  the  Second.  It  is  said 
that  the  gunners  at  the  Invalides  played  a  joke  by 
waiting  for  a  few  seconds  before  firing  the  twenty- 
second  shot ;  but  when  they  did  so  a  thunder  of 
rejoicing  broke  over  the  whole  city,  such  as  has 
never  been  heard  before  or  since.  So  great  was 
the  enthusiasm  they  felt  on  hearing  that  the  future 
of  the  country  was  assured  that  the  imperial 
page  who  ran  from  the  chateau  to  announce  the 
birth  to  the  councillors  assembled  in  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  was  unanimously  voted  10,000  francs  a  year. 
Three  years  afterwards,  in  1814,  the  Emperor 
dissolved  the  Council.  What  became  of  the  poor 
page's  pension  ? 

In  the  year  1811  there  was  broad  sunshine 
in  France ;  though  a  shadow  fell  on  the  land 
when  100,000  quite  young  men  were  drafted  into 
the  army  towards  the  close  of  the  year.  The 
generous  awards  that  the  Emperor  had  made  to 
his  followers  had  given  a  brilliancy  to  social  life  at 
Paris  almost  equal  to  what  it  had  been  under  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  185 

kings.  The  Emperor  desired  it,  and  most  of  his 
officers  did  not  need  telling  twice.  Most  of  them 
had  also  contrived  to  secure  so  many  valuables 
and  so  much  money  that  they  returned  with 
waggon-loads  from  every  campaign.  The  salons 
of  their  wives  and  the  splendid  festivities  they  gave 
when  they  had  any  time  at  home  in  peace,  were  a 
welcome  reward  for  the  long  days  of  war,  when 
no  one  had  spared  himself  and  from  which  they 
brought  wounds  and  injuries  to  Paris.  There  was 
Napoleon's  own  family,  with  the  Queen  of  Naples 
at  its  head,  and  even  the  Tuileries,  which  witnessed 
a  continuous  series  of  festive  gatherings.  More- 
over, many  members  of  the  old  nobility  returned 
to  their  mysterious  hotels  on  the  Boulevard  St. 
Germain.  Some  went  on  to  the  court  and 
accepted  service  in  it,  and  some  of  the  best  names 
are  found  in  the  army  under  Napoleon  as  well 
as  under  the  Bourbons. 

The  higher  circles  at  Paris  were,  therefore,  as 
brilliant  as  ever.  The  lower  strata  of  the  popula- 
tion were  content.  The  Emperor  brought  plenty 
of  honour  and  fame,  but  he  also  brought  work 
and  business.  He  had  an  eye  for  everything,  and, 
although  he  had  a  close  knowledge  only  of  the 
military  section  of  his  people,  his  practical 
judgment  was  of  service  to  many  branches  of 
commerce.  Paris  was  always  his  heaviest  task. 
He  once  complained  to  Fouche :  '  I  shall  be 
delighted  if  you  can  assure  me  that  the  faubourg 
St.  Germain  is  satisfied.  I  may  tell  you  that  in 
all  my  battles,  in  the  greatest  dangers,  even  in 


186  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  middle  of  the  desert,  the  question  was  always 
in  my  mind — what  will  Paris  say,  especially  the 
faubourg  St.  Germain  ?'  There  was  a  gulf  between 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  Paris  that  could  never 
be  filled.  He  was  never  a  Parisian  ;  he  was  not 
even  sufficiently  French. 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  what  subtle  fluid  it 
is  that  gives  its  character  to  a  great  city — a 
fluid  of  which  everyone  who  feels  himself  a  genuine 
Parisian,  and  insists  on  being  regarded  as  such, 
must  have  a  small  drop.  There  is  about  Paris 
and  everything  Parisian  a  certain  elegant  perfume 
of  depravity.  Everything  seems  to  be  edged 
with  a  narrow  red  border.  Napoleon  was  entirely 
devoid  of  it.  He  was,  to  his  finger-tips,  as  hard 
and  angular  as  crystal,  without  the  stamp  of  any 
society,  least  of  all  that  of  Paris. 

Now  that  he  had  founded  a  dynasty  and 
put  his  troublesome  metropolis  in  good  humour, 
he  felt  himself  superior  to  all  the  princes  that  he 
knew.  The  Tsar  alone  was  an  exception.  As 
early  as  1805  Napoleon  had  seen  clearly  that  the 
Tsar  would  not  allow  Austria  to  fall  too  low.  In 
1810  Russia  had  abruptly  withdrawn  from  the 
Tilsit  arrangement,  and  left  the  continental  system. 
Large  musters  of  troops  along  the  frontier  of  the 
Grand  Duchy  of  Warschau  seemed  to  forebode 
no  good.  But  he  had  always  evinced  a  curious 
attitude  toward  Russia,  and  he  now  hesitated  to 
admit  as  a  fact  the  patent  defection  of  the  Tsar 
to  England  and  the  other  princes.  He  never 
understood  the  invincible  comradeship  that  bound 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  187 

the  other  princes  together,  and  alienated  them 
from  himself.  He  had  learned  from  history,  as 
we  have  seen  a  hundred  years  after  his  day,  that 
the  enmity  of  kings  never  lasts  long.  After  a 
certain  time,  after  they  have  aired  their  armies 
and  bled  their  peoples,  they  come  together  again 
and  kiss  each  other  on  railway  platforms,  and  the 
news  flies  over  the  telegraphic  system  of  the  world. 
He  did  not  understand  that  if  he  had  been  a 
king's  son — a  bastard,  at  least — the  others, 
impressed  by  his  superiority,  would  have  opened 
their  circles  to  him  and  his  son.  But  to  him,  as 
he  was,  the  usurper,  the  child  of  the  revolution — 
never  !  He  might  humble  them  and  trade  with 
their  territory  and  capitals,  but  they  would  rather 
die  than  seriously  recognise  Napoleon  as  an  equal. 
Bernadotte  might  do  very  well  on  the  distant 
throne  of  Sweden.  In  the  first  place  they  needed 
him  as  a  general,  and  further,  they  despised  him, 
and  let  him  feel  that  they  did  so.  Napoleon  was 
blind  to  all  this.  Politically,  he  had  the  idea — an 
idea  revived  in  our  own  time — that  France  in 
alliance  with  Russia  had  the  fate  of  Europe  in 
its  hand ;  personally,  he  believed  that  the  Tsar 
Alexander  was  his  friend  at  the  bottom.  Sagacious 
as  he  was,  suspicious  even  on  the  slightest  indica- 
tions, he  clearly  thought  during  the  whole  time, 
even  when  he  was  preparing  to  advance  against 
Russia,  that  by  a  personal  interview  with  Alexander 
— preferably  after  he  had  thoroughly  beaten  him — 
he  could  restore  the  friendly  relations  of  Tilsit 
and  Erfurt,  commit  him  against  England,  and 


188  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

restore  the  equilibrium  in  Europe  that  he  destined 
for  his  son. 

When  he  saw  clearly  in  February,  1812,  that 
St.  Petersburg  had  played  him  false,  and  had  no 
intention  of  sending  Count  Nesselrode  as  extra- 
ordinary envoy  to  Paris,  as  he  had  long  wished, 
he  sent  for  Colonel  Chernicheff,  an  adjutant  of 
the  Tsar  who  was  at  Paris,  and  gave  him,  in 
friendly  mood,  a  number  of  explanations  and  a 
private  letter  to  the  Tsar.  Colonel  Chernicheff 
bowed  and  thanked  him.  But  two  days  after  his 
his  departure  from  Paris  it  was  discovered  that 
he  had  abused  his  position,  and  bribed  a  sub- 
ordinate official  in  the  ministry  of  war  to  give  him 
a  correct  account  of  the  strength  of  the  French 
army.  The  official  was  arrested ;  but  the  per- 
fidious Russian  had  got  too  good  a  start.  They 
sent  after  him  as  quickly  as  possible,  but  he 
reached  St.  Petersburg  with  his  prize. 

The  Tsar's  reply  to  the  letter  that  Napoleon 
sent  by  Colonel  Chernicheff  was  brought  by 
Baron  Serobin  in  April.  It  contained  an  ex- 
pression of  Russia's  desire  that  the  French 
troops  should  evacuate  Prussia  and  withdraw 
across  the  Rhine.  Napoleon  said  that  this  was 
merely  diplomatic  effrontery,  and  would  not  take 
it  literally.  He  sent  Count  Nar  bonne  as  extra- 
ordinary envoy  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  told  him 
to  treat  directly  and  personally  with  the  Tsar,  hi 
accordance  with  the  instructions  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon.  A  few  days  later  the  Russian  ambas- 
sador, Prince  Kourakin,  broke  off  the  negotiations 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  189 

that  he  had  been  conducting  for  some  months 
with  the  Due  de  Bassano,  and  the  Emperor  left 
Paris  on  May  9th,  1812.  The  Empress  accom- 
panied him  to  Dresden. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  the  great  Russian 
campaign. 


CHAPTER    V 

In  the  year  1808,  when  the  alliance  still  held 
good  between  Russia  and  France,  Marshal  Berna- 
dotte  occupied  Jutland  with  Spanish  troops,  for 
the  purpose  of  threatening  Sweden  on  that  side  in 
order  that  Russia  might  annex  Finland  without 
opposition.  As  a  fact,  the  marshal  had  explicit 
orders  from  the  Emperor  to  do  nothing  against 
Sweden.  But  he  concealed  this  part  of  his  orders, 
and  afterwards  boasted  of  his  inactivity,  as  if 
Sweden  ought  to  be  grateful  to  him  for  it.  When 
however,  it  became  clear,  in  the  year  1811,  that 
war  was  bound  to  break  out  between  Napoleon 
and  Alexander,  Bernadotte  pointed  out  to  the 
French  ambassador  at  Stockholm  that  it  would 
be  a  great  help  to  Napoleon  if  a  Swedish  army 
were  to  invade  Finland. 

For  this  service  the  Swedish  Crown-prince 
demanded  Norway.  He  had  the  effrontery  even, 
Thiers  says,  to  threaten  to  injure  the  French,  if 
they  did  not  support  him  in  the  taking  of  Norway  ; 
a  remarkable  procedure  when  we  remember  that 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  191 

he  had  himself  worn  the  French  uniform  only  a 
short  time  previously.  He  could  never  forget 
that  Napoleon  did  not  enter  into  his  plans  in 
regard  to  Norway.  As  he  chiefly  owed  his 
elevation  to  the  position  of  heir  to  the  throne  to 
the  success  of  the  French  army,  and  as  he  by  no 
means  improved  on  closer  acquaintance — for 
people  soon  found  that  he  was  vain,  boastful,  and 
prodigal  of  empty  promises,  while  his  military 
talent  was  very  far  below  what  he  thought  it  to 
be — it  was  a  fine  dream  that  he  would  win  favour 
in  Sweden  by  this  annexation. 

In  November,  1811,  he  had  a  conversation 
with  M.  Alquier,  the  French  ambassador  at 
Stockholm.  After  a  few  desultory  observations 
on  certain  privileges  that  English  merchants  had 
enjoyed  at  Goteborg,  Bernadotte  audaciously 
asked  '  why  France  rewarded  his  services  so 
badly  ?'  The  ambassador  hinted  that  the  throne 
of  Sweden  was  a  very  fair  acknowledgment.  If, 
says  Thiers,  one  could  have  looked  into  the  future 
at  that  moment,  one  would  certainly  have  treated 
this  foolish  conceit  with  moderation.  But  we  can 
understand  the  bitterness  of  the  French  ambas- 
sador. There  are  things  that  prove  insupportable 
even  under  the  menace  of  death.  The  new-baked 
crown-prince  was  extremely  arrogant  throughout 
the  conversation.  He  recalled  all  the  battles  in 
which  he  had  taken  part  and  declared — as  he 
used  to  do  amongst  his  confidants — that  he  had 
won  the  battle  of  Austerlitz  (where  he  had  not 
fired  a  shot) ;  the  battle  of  Friedland  (where  he 


192  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

was  not  even  present) ;  and  the  battle  of  Wagram 
(where  he  had  taken  to  flight  both  days  with  his 
4  granite  column  '). 

He  then  went  on  to  say  that  he  knew  all 
about  the  bad  feeling  there  was  in  regard  to  him 
at  Paris  ;  but  he  now  ruled  a  race  of  giants,  who 
adored  him,  and  before  whom  no  enemy  could 
stand  once  he  led  them  forward.  '  That  is  too 
much,'  cried  the  ambassador.  But  Bernadotte, 
who  was  in  a  state  of  feverish  excitement,  called 
out  to  his  boy  Oscar  :  '  Isn't  it  true  ?  You  will 
follow  the  example  of  your  father,  and  prefer 
death  to  disgrace.'  M.  Alquier  reported  the 
whole  conversation  to  Napoleon.  The  Emperor 
smiled,  and  broke  all  connection  with  Sweden. 
This  caused  some  concern  in  Sweden,  and  both 
the  old  king  and  the  crown-prince  endeavoured 
to  remedy  the  breach.  But  at  the  same  time 
Bernadotte  made  secret  overtures,  on  his  own 
account,  to  Russia  and  England.  He  said,  in 
explanation  of  his  treachery  to  his  benefactor, 
that  Napoleon  had  unfortunately  pursued  him 
with  jealousy  throughout  his  whole  life. 

The  truth  was  that  jealousy  was  at  the 
bottom  of  Bernadotte's  hatred  from  the  beginning. 
Jealous  as  he  was  by  nature,  he  dared  to  be 
envious  of  the  man  who  should  have  been  far 
above  the  range  of  his  jealousy ;  for  there  could 
be  no  comparison  whatever  between  General 
Bernadotte  and  General  Bonaparte.  We  can, 
more  or  less,  understand  his  jealousy  of  Moreau, 
Massena,  Lannes,  or  Davoust,  though  they  were 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  193 

all  far  superior  to  him.  But  for  him  to  be  jealous 
of  Napoleon  only  shows  his  narrow-mindedness 
and  slender  intelligence. 

After  reading  these  things  about  Bernadotte, 
I  was  rather  amazed  to  hear  King  Oscar  II  say  in 
1896 :  '  The  one  man  who  could  have  taken 
Napoleon's  place  was  my  grandfather.'  He  said 
it  so  quietly  and  unhesitatingly  that  one  could 
see  this  was  the  way  he  had  been  taught  history. 

On  May  20th,  1812,  the  French  imperial 
couple  were  at  Dresden.  Napoleon  feared  that 
possibly,  in  view  of  the  actual  relations  between 
the  Russian  and  French  courts,  Count  Narbonne 
would  not  succeed  in  reaching  the  Tsar  personally. 
And,  as  he  thought  everything  depended  on  that, 
he  thought  he  would  make  one  more  effort  to 
attain  his  end  through  his  ambassador  at  St. 
Petersburg,  Count  Lauriston.  He  therefore  said 
to  Maret,  the  Duke  of  Bassano :  '  Write  to 
Lauriston,  and  tell  him  to  go  to  Wilna  (where  the 
Emperor  Alexander  was  with  the  army).  Let 
him  know  that,  as  I  wish  to  bring  this  war  of 
words  to  an  end,  I  command  him  to  break 
through  all  formalities  and  see  the  Tsar  in  person, 
and  learn  from  his  own  lips  something  that  may 
lead  to  an  understanding  between  us.' 

When  Lauriston  received  the  order  he  at 
once  asked  for  a  passport  to  leave  the  capital  and 
go  to  Wilna.  He  did  not  obtain  one.  In  the 
meantime,  a  court  such  as  Europe  had  never  seen 
before  and  will  never  see  again,  had  gathered 
about  Napoleon  and  the  Empress,  who  were 
N 


194  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

staying  with  the  aged  King  of  Saxony  at  Dresden. 
The  Emperor  and  Empress  of  Austria  had  come 
of  their  own  initiative  to  greet  their  daughter  and 
son-in-law  and  wish  him  success  in  his  great 
campaign.  The  King  of  Prussia  was  there.  He 
offered  his  son  as  an  adjutant  to  Napoleon,  though 
the  Emperor  declined  the  offer  out  of  delicacy. 
All  the  kings  and  ruling  princes  from  the  rest  of 
Germany  came  with  their  warmest  wishes  and  an 
assurance  of  loyalty  in  the  struggle  against  the  Tsar, 
who  now  appeared  to  be  the  common  enemy  ! 

It  was  during  the  stay  at  Dresden  that  the 
elder  Count  Segur  made  his  famous  mot.  He 
happened  to  come  late  to  a  sitting,  and  the 
Emperor  glanced  sharply  at  him.  The  astute 
master  of  ceremonies  answered  :  '  Your  Majesty 
must  forgive  me  for  coming  late.  I  was  detained 
—there  was  such  a  crowd  of  kings  in  the  ante- 


rooms.' 


All  these  princes  were  to  send  troops  to  take 
part  in  the  campaign.  The  Emperor  had  taken 
a  liking  to  Prince  Schwartzenberg  at  Paris,  and 
wished  him  to  lead  the  Austrian  army,  which  was 
to  advance  across  the  Russian  frontier  in  the 
south-west,  and  serve  as  cover  and  support  to  the 
grand  army.  There  was  not  one  of  these  foreigners 
who  did  not  secretly  wish  that  Napoleon  would 
fare  so  badly  that  they  might  venture  to  abandon 
him.  This  feeling  grew  especially  in  Germany. 
The  national  upheaval  had  begun  that  sought 
to  wipe  out  the  unnatural  frontiers  between  the 
smaller  States  of  the  illtreated  nation.  It  was 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  195 

not  surprising  that  there  were  thoughts  of 
vengeance  everywhere,  and  that  all  were  ready 
to  east  off  the  frightful  burden. 

But  it  will  be  a  matter  of  wonder  for  all  time 
and  an  outrage  on  human  honour  to  see  the 
complicated  intrigues  of  Bernadotte  in  the 
beginning  of  1812.  To  the  English  party  in 
Sweden  he  declared  that  he  would  not  be 
Napoleon's  slave,  and  that  he  thought  most  of  the 
trade  and  advantages  of  his  own  kingdom.  To 
his  own  party,  which  had  chosen  him  as  a  general 
of  Napoleon,  he  spoke  in  a  lofty  tone  of  the 
honour  of  the  Swedish  arms.  To  the  Allies  he 
said  that  he  was  prepared  to  cast  off  the  yoke 
of  France  at  the  first  signal.  He  would  land  with 
30,000,  if  not  50,000,  Swedes  and  annihilate  the 
French  in  Poland,  if  they  would  only  guarantee 
him  Norway.  Foreign  powers  could  hardly  credit 
his  perfidy,  and  the  King  of  Prussia  especially 
felt  himself  injured.  Bernadotte  even  went  so 
far,  in  his  desire  to  aid  Russia,  as  to  offer  to 
bring  about  peace  with  the  Turks.  He  was 
everywhere  the  most  active  enemy  of  France. 

On  April  5th,  Sweden  contracted  an  alliance 
with  Russia,  which  promised  to  help  it  in  the 
annexation  of  Norway.  The  condition  was  to 
remain  secret.  The  Swedish  cabinet  was  to  deny 
officially  that  there  was  any  alliance  with  Russia, 
and  at  a  given  moment  its  neutrality  was  to  be 
converted  into  war  with  France.  It  was  one  of 
the  most  shameless  instances  of  perfidy  that 
history  has  ever  known. 


196  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

In  the  meantime  the  crown-princess  Desideria, 
who  was  still  at  Paris  occupied  with  other  things, 
and  could  not  be  induced  to  go  to  Stockholm, 
began  to  regret  the  ill-feeling  between  Sweden 
and  France,  and  tried  to  effect  a  reconciliation. 
Hence  we  find  Bernadotte  sending  M.  Signeul  to 
Maret,  who  was  with  the  Emperor  at  Dresden, 
with  two  documents.  The  first,  the  official  note, 
declared  candidly  that  for  the  moment  Sweden 
was  substantially  on  Russia's  side,  but  Bernadotte 
again  made  a  ridiculous  proposal  to  mediate 
between  Alexander  and  Napoleon.  The  other, 
the  secret  note,  said  that  Bernadotte  had  no 
interest  in  Finland  ;  if  he  were  guaranteed  Norway 
he  was  ready  to  conclude  an  alliance  with  France 
at  once.  Napoleon  who  was  perfectly  aware  of 
the  secret  treaty  with  Russia  on  April  5th,  cried : 
4  The  scoundrel !  I  want  to  hear  no  more  of  him.' 

The  grande  armde,  when  it  marched  eastwards 
from  its  headquarters  in  all  its  splendour  in  the 
spring  of  1812,  was  made  up  as  follows.  The 
first  corps,  under  Marshal  Davoust,  consisted  of 
six  divisions,  the  main  strength  of  which  were  the 
divisions  of  Morand,  Friant,  and  Gudin.  The 
rest  of  the  corps  was  mixed  with  Bavarian  and 
Dutch  regiments  and  Poles.  Under  Davoust 
there  was  also  General  Grawert  with  17,000 
Prussians.  The  corps  consisted  in  all  of  114,000 
men  of  good  troops.  Besides  the  three  generals, 
Gudin,  Morand,  and  Friant,  Davoust  had  also 
Compans  and  Pajol,  the  engineer  Haxo,  and  the 
distinguished  General  Friedrich. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  197 

'-.  r'"» 

The  second  corps  was  led  by  Marshal  Oudinot. 
He  had  with  him  Generals  Merle  and  Maison, 
and  the  divisions  of  Legrand  and  Verdiers — the 
old  soldiers  of  Lannes  and  Mass6na.  Altogether, 
with  the  cavalry  under  General  Dumerc,  there  were 
40,000  men.  The  third  corps  was  commanded  by 
Marshal  Ney  with  two  divisions  of  veteran 
soldiers,  who  had  been  trained  by  the  Duke  of 
Montebello.  There  were  also  in  it  the  Wiirtem- 
bergers,  who  had  served  before  under  Ney.  That 
meant  39,000  men,  with  two  corps  of  curassiers 
from  the  cavalry-reserve :  10,000  men.  The 
fourth  corps  was  under  Prince  Eugene,  with  Junot 
second  in  command.  It  included  Generals 
Grouchy  and  Broussier,  the  two  brothers  Delzon, 
and  the  best  soldiers  of  the  Italian  army 
—45,000  men  altogether.  The  fifth  corps 
numbered  26,000  men  of  all  arms,  mostly  Poles, 
under  the  command  of  Prince  Poniatowski.  The 
sixth  corps  consisted  of  25,000  men,  mostly 
foreigners  who  had  served  in  the  French  army 
since  1809,  under  General  St.  Cyr.  The  seventh 
corps  was  under  General  Reynier  ;  17,000  men, 
mostly  Saxons,  who  were  to  act  with  the  Poles. 
The  eighth  corps  consisted  of  King  Jerome  with 
18,000  Westphalians  and  Hessians. 

Besides  these  there  were  four  corps  of 
the  reserve-infantry,  divided  amongst  Davoust, 
Oudinot,  and  Ney.  The  rest,  15,000  fine  horsemen 
marched  with  the  Imperial  Guard.  The  Guard 
was  commanded  by  Marshals  Mortier  and  Lef ebvre, 
and  distributed  in  two  corps ;  the  old  guard, 


198  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

consisting  of  the  green  mounted  rifles  and  the  blue 
foot-grenadiers ;  and  the  young  Guard,  sharp- 
shooters and  light  cavalry.  In  all  there  were 
47,000  men,  including  6,000  picked  cavalrymen 
and  200  guns  with  service.  Then  there  was  the 
corps  of  engineers,  consisting  of  sappers,  miners, 
bridge-constructers,  and  military  artificers  of  all 
kinds ;  and  the  artillery  and  baggage  with  full 
equipment  and  horses — there  were  18,000  horses 
in  these  two  trains  alone. 

In  the  active  army  that  marched  against 
Russia  there  were  423,000  experienced  soldiers, 
namely,  200,000  foot,  70,000  horse,  and  30,000 
artillery  with  1,000  guns,  besides  six  trains  of 
bridges,  ambulances,  and  supplies  for  one  month. 
As  a  reserve  there  was  the  ninth  corps  under 
Marshal  Victor,  and  the  tenth  corps  under 
Augereau,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Magdeburg, 
which  were  to  keep  up  the  complement  of  the 
army.  The  total  number  of  men  to  face  the 
Russians  was  620,000.  Besides  these  there  were 
150,000  men  in  French  depots  and  fortresses, 
50,000  men  in  Italy,  and  300,000  fighting  in  the 
Spanish  Peninsula  under  the  command  of  generals 
like  Massena,  Soult,  and  Suchet.  The  entire 
French  forces  under  the  supreme  command  of  one 
man  amounted  to  more  than  a  million  armed 
soldiers. 

If  we  consider  the  representation  of  the 
different  nationalities  in  the  great  army  against 
Russia,  we  have  the  following  figures ;  370,000 
were  French;  50,000  Poles;  20,000  Italians; 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  199 

and  10,000  Swiss.  These  could  all  be  counted 
upon  as  reliable  soldiers.  But  there  were  also 
150,000  Prussians,  Bavarians,  Saxons,  Wiirtem- 
bergers,  Westphalians,  Croatians,  Spanish,  and 
Portuguese,  who  were  all  more  or  less  unreliable 
and  dangerous.  As  I  said,  Napoleon  did  not 
concern  himself  about  this.  To  him  soldiers  were 
soldiers  and  nothing  else.  Moreover,  there  was 
such  a  feeling  of  hostility  between  the  smaller 
States  and  between  the  north  and  the  south  that 
Germans  often  fought  Germans  with  great  zeal 
under  Napoleon's  banner ;  at  least  until  the  day 
when  the  French  administration  pressed  so  heavily 
on  them  that  the  princes  were  forced  to  seek  the 
aid  of  their  peoples. 

On  June  17th  the  Emperor  reached  Dantzig. 
From  there  he  proceeded  to  Konigsberg,  and 
reviewed  Davoust's  six  model  divisions  on  the 
route.  On  the  18th  he  reached  Insterburg,  where 
he  found  the  banks  of  the  Pregel  covered  with 
supplies  of  all  kinds.  At  the  same  time  220,000 
soldiers,  ready  for  the  fight,  converged  on  the 
place  by  different  routes.  On  June  19th  he  at 
last  received  precise  information  that  the  Emperor 
Alexander  could  not  be  induced  to  see  Lauriston. 
He  had  now  to  rely  on  force.  The  Tsar  must  be 
compelled.  One  way  or  the  other  he  was  deter- 
mined to  see  the  Tsar  in  person.  And  so  Napoleon 
crossed  the  Niemen. 

He  proposed  to  advance  into  Russia  through 
the  district  between  the  Dnieper,  where  it  turns 
southwards  near  Orscha,  and  the  Dwina,  where 


200  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

it  flows  northwards  near  Ostrowno.  The  first 
movement  of  the  Russians  was  to  draw  up  their 
northern  army,  under  General  Barclay  de  Tolly, 
at  the  fortified  camp  of  Drissa,  where  the  Tsar 
himself  was,  and  seemed  to  be  preparing  for  a 
fight.  The  southern  army,  under  Prince  Bagration, 
was  to  be  brought  into  touch  with  the  northern 
by  marching  rapidly  northwards  and  slipping 
past  the  advancing  French.  Napoleon's  plan 
was  to  prevent  the  junction  with  the  help  of 
Davoust's  corps,  keep  the  two  Russian  armies 
apart,  engage  them  separately,  and  drive  Bag- 
ration  into  the  morasses.  Meantime,  the  Tsar 
had  retreated  so  far  without  the  great  and  decisive 
battle  that  Napoleon  was  eager  to  engage  in, 
that  the  French  reached  Wilna,  the  old  capital 
of  Poland. 

The  Poles,  so  often  deluded,  thought  that 
their  day  had  come  at  last.  The  Polish  nobility 
declared  that  the  kingdom  of  Poland  was  re-estab- 
lished, and  sent  a  deputation  to  Napoleon  asking 
him  to  recognise  it.  That  would  be  enough  for 
them.  But  Napoleon,  who  never  had  much 
sympathy  with  the  national  aspirations  of  the 
Poles,  gave  an  equivocal  reply.  His  words 
deprived  the  Poles  of  all  spirit  and  hope,  and 
caused  great  disappointment  even  in  France. 

Meantime,  if  Napoleon's  manoeuvre  was  to 
succeed,  and  the  junction  of  De  Tolly  and  Bag- 
ration  to  be  prevented,  King  Jerome  ought  to 
be  much  further  advanced  than  he  was  with  his 
army-corps.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  even  a  strong 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  201 

general  would  not  have  been  able  to  get  so  far 
by  the  end  of  June  on  account  of  the  bad  weather 
and  the  violent  rains.  But  Napoleon,  who  was 
waiting  at  Wilna,  was  impatient ;  so  was  Davoust. 
At  last  King  Jerome  received  an  order,  in  a 
somewhat  offensive  form,  to  put  himself  under  the 
command  of  Davoust.  Jerome  felt  aggrieved,  as 
was  quite  natural.  He  left  the  army  and  returned 
home.  This  quarrel  between  the  two  brothers 
lost  Napoleon  the  favourable  moment  when 
Bagration  might  have  been  isolated  and  ruined. 
What  was  even  worse,  eleven  valuable  June  days 
were  spent  idly  at  Wilna. 

That  was  precisely  what  the  Russians  hoped, 
and  what  those  Frenchmen  dreaded  who  knew 
the  Russian  climate  ;  it  meant  that  the  campaign 
would  run  into  the  winter.  The  story  was  going 
round  the  Russian  quarters  of  the  smith  who 
laughed  when  someone  showed  him  a  French 
horse-shoe,  that  had  been  found  on  the  road. 
'  Not  one  of  those  horses  will  ever  leave  Russia, 
if  they  are  here  when  the  frost  comes,'  said  the 
smith.  The  French  horse-shoes  had  neither  spikes 
nor  barbs,  and  it  would  be  impossible  for  the 
horses  to  drag  guns  and  heavy  waggons  up  and 
down  hills  when  the  roads  were  hard  and  slippery. 
When  Bonaparte  was  a  young  general  on  his 
early  campaigns,  he  would  jump  out  of  his  carriage 
when  there  was  some  lengthy  delay  on  the  march 
and  stand  at  the  side  of  the  road,  and  point  to 
one  of  the  heavier  waggons,  with  the  question  : 
*  What  is  in  this  waggon  ?'  The  officer  who  was 


202  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

responsible  had  to  ride  up.  The  entire  contents 
of  the  waggon  had  to  be  laid  out  on  the  field  and 
checked — harness,  horse-cloths,  nails,  tools,  screws, 
metal-work,  etc.  The  unfortunate  young  officer 
would  have  to  give  an  account  of  the  smallest 
details,  and  the  general  knew  perfectly  well  what 
ought  to  be  there.  If  the  young  man  had  to 
admit  some  blunder  or  other,  he  might  pass  into 
eternal  oblivion  ;  but  if  he  was  any  good  he 
might  die  a  general.  The  Russian  campaign  was 
not  equipped  in  this  way. 

When  Napoleon  at  last  marched  on  Drissa 
at  the  close  of  June,  the  Tsar  quitted  his  strong 
position,  though  they  had  worked  at  it  for  a 
whole  year  to  make  it  impregnable.  He  retreated 
as  far  as  St.  Petersburg,  and  remained  there.  At 
Napoleon's  command  all  the  French  troops  reached 
the  Dwina  on  the  same  day,  but  they  found 
nothing  but  the  empty  camp.  The  campaign 
had  to  go  on,  without  a  decisive  battle  having 
been  fought,  with  the  same  end  in  view — to  keep 
the  two  Russian  armies  apart.  Barclay  de  Tolly 
retreated  steadily  before  the  advance  of  the  main 
army.  At  the  beginning  of  July  he  seemed  to 
be  going  to  take  up  a  stand  at  Witebsk,  in  order 
to  give  Bagration  time  to  come  up  and  join 
him  at  Smolensk.  But  Bagration  encountered 
Davoust  at  Mohilew,  and  the  French  marshal  had 
one  of  his  great  days.  He  inflicted  such  a  crushing 
defeat  on  Bagration  that  there  could  be  no  more 
question  of  a  junction  with  Tolly  at  Smolensk. 

In  some  mysterious  way  Prince  Bagration 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  203 

succeeded  in  sending  the  news  of  his  defeat  through 
or  round  the  French  lines,  and  on  the  morning  of 
July  27th,  when  Napoleon  and  the  entire  main 
army  reached  Witebsk,  anxious  for  a  decisive 
battle,  they  found  Barclay  de  Tolly  in  full  retreat 
once  more.  There  was  no  pitched  battle,  such 
as  the  French  had  hoped  for,  though  there  was 
a  sharp  skirmish  at  Ostrowno,  in  which  Murat 
and  Eugene  won.  In  the  course  of  this  fight  a 
band  of  young  Parisians,  about  300  in  number, 
who  belonged  to  the  ninth  regiment  of  the  line, 
cut  their  way  through  a  mass  of  Russian  curassiers 
before  the  eyes  of  the  whole  French  army.  The 
Emperor  himself  saw  their  bravery,  and  called 
out :  *  Each  of  them  has  deserved  the  cross.' 

It  was  a  fresh  disappointment  for  Napoleon 
that  there  was  no  action  sufficiently  decisive  at 
Witebsk  to  bring  on  the  question  of  negotiations. 
At  this  time  the  French  army  was  suffering  terribly 
from  the  heat,  and  the  desertions  began — especially 
amongst  the  Germans.  Napoleon  remained  quiet 
at  Witebsk  for  a  fortnight.  He  was  not  like  his 
old  self  at  all  in  this  campaign.  Astonishment  has 
often  been  expressed  that  he  did  so  little  every 
day,  since  his  power  had  been  mainly  in  the 
swiftness  with  which  he  would  astonish  the  enemy 
and  push  on  a  campaign.  Even  granting  that  he 
had  less  idea  what  a  Russian  winter  was  like  than 
a  general  of  his  rank  ought  to  have  had,  and  much 
less  than  he  would  himself  have  been  content 
with  in  earlier  years,  nevertheless,  it  was  very 
unlike  his  real  self  to  waste  so  much  time  at  Wilna 


204  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

and  then  at  Witebsk.  It  seems  to  me  that 
everything  points  to  the  conclusion  that  Napoleon 
had  expected  every  day  to  receive  the  adjutant 
from  the  Tsar,  who  would  turn  the  war  into  an 
agreement  between  them.  He  was  convinced  all 
along  that  the  Tsar  was  deceived  by  his  followers, 
and  only  needed  correct  information  to  accept 
the  modern  ideas  that  Napoleon  wished  to  press 
on  him.  The  same  opinion  of  the  Tsar  of  Russia's 
attitude  toward  modern  ideas  has  been  entertained 
by  many  shrewd  observers  a  hundred  years  since 
those  days. 

The  army  took  up  quarters  in  the  vicinity  of 
Witebsk.  Supplies  were  collected,  and  deserters 
and  stragglers  were  brought  up  to  the  colours. 
Although  not  more  than  7,000  men  had  fallen  as 
yet,  there  were  150,000  men  missing  from  the 
ranks.  The  destruction  of  the  grand  army  during 
the  Russian  campaign  must  not  be  attributed 
wholly  to  the  cold  and  the  terrible  retreat.  In 
reality,  the  army  was  ruined  before  it  reached 
Moscow  ;  partly  because  there  were  far  too  many 
foreigners  in  it,  and  partly  because  there  had  been 
a  foolish  levy  of  boys.  The  latter  could  fight,  it 
is  true,  but  they  were  unable  to  endure  the 
exceptional  strain  and  privations  of  the  campaign. 
Moreover,  a  large  number  of  the  cavalry  were 
already  compelled  to  go  on  foot.  When  we 
examine  the  map  showing  the  places  of  battle 
on  the  march  in  and  out  of  Russia,  we  see  that 
the  French  Bword  penetrated  to  no  great  depth 
in  the  bulky  colossus.  From  the  Niemen  to 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  205 

Mohilew,  Ostrowno,  Polotsk,  Krasnoi  (the  first 
time),  Smolensk,  Walutina,  Borodino,  and  burning 
Moscow,  and  back  through  the  fields  of  Winkowo, 
Malo,  Jaroslawetz,  Wiasma,  Wop,  Krasnoi  (the 
second  time),  Beresina,  Wilna,  and  Kowno,  is  not 
a  long  stretch  of  road.  But  it  is  a  long  stretch 
of  history. 

During  his  halt  as  Witebsk,  the  Emperor 
ruled  with  the  same  regularity  as  if  he  were  at 
the  Tuileries,  except  that  he  was  thinking  day  and 
night  of  the  movements  of  his  troops  and  the 
care  of  his  wounded.  Nothing  could  daunt  him  ; 
neither  Bernadotte's  desertion  nor  the  rising  in 
Russia,  which  the  Tsar  himself  had  instigated, 
and  which  caused  the  French  to  find  only  deserted 
country  and  abandoned  or  burning  towns.  He 
seemed  to  know  nothing  of  the  revulsion  of  feeling 
or  the  murmuring  that  began  to  be  heard  about 
him.  Brooding  alone  over  his  plans  and  unshake- 
able  in  his  resolution,  he  determined  to  pursue 
the  retreating  Russians  with  the  main  army,  while 
keeping  an  eye  on  his  flanks  to  the  north  and 
south.  Orders  were  given  to  Prince  Schwartzen- 
berg  and  Marshals  Victor  and  Augereau  to  hasten 
to  the  relief  of  General  Reynier,  who  was 
threatened  by  General  Tormasoff  from  the  south. 
In  the  north  he  had  Macdonald  in  the  vicinity  of 
Diinaburg,  and  Marshal  Oudinot  was  engaged  in 
a  fight  with  General  Wittgenstein  at  Polotsk. 
General  Gouvin  St.  Cyr  was  ordered  to  strengthen 
Oudinot's  position  with  his  Bavarian  corps. 


206  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

On  August  17th  Marshal  Oudinot  decided  to 
withdraw  a  little,  in  order  to  take  up  a  better 
position.  Wittgenstein  thought  the  manoeuvre 
was  a  retreat  and  advanced  on  him.  In  the  battle 
that  resulted  the  marshal  was  severely  wounded, 
and  had  to  be  carried  off.  The  command  fell  to 
General  St.  Cyr,  who  was  also  wounded,  and  he 
led  the  battle  from  a  small  Polish  carriage. 

This  cool  leader  and  great  tactician  executed 
a  masterly  manoeuvre  at  Polotsk  on  August  18th. 
He  suddenly  converted  an  ostensible  retreat  into 
a  strenuous  attack,  and  so  won  a  victory  which 
would  have  been  even  more  brilliant  if  his  carriage 
had  not  broken  down  at  the  decisive  moment. 
He  fell  underneath  the  horses,  and  was  only 
rescued  with  difficulty  ;  and  he  at  once  resumed 
command.  He  took  1,500  prisoners  and  14  guns, 
and  gave  Wittgenstein  a  severe  lesson.  After 
Polotsk  the  Emperor  made  him  Marshal.  Two 
Bavarian  generals,  Derois  and  Lieben,  fell  in  this 
battle.  Derois  had  led  the  Bavarians  in  1805 
at  Ulm,  and  in  1809  at  Wagram.  He  and  his 
inseparable  friend,  Lieben,  had  spent  their  lives 
together  from  boyhood.  They  both  became 
generals  in  Napoleon's  service,  and  both  fell  on 
the  same  day  at  Polotsk. 

On  August  17th  Napoleon  reached  Smolensk, 
the  fortified  outskirts  of  which  he  attacked  at 
two  in  the  afternoon  with  the  famous  divisions  of 
Morand  and  Gudin.  General  Ledru,  of  Ney's 
army-corps,  attacked  the  suburb  of  Krasnoi,  the 
Russians  making  a  determined  resistance  in  all 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  207 

the  fortresses  round  the  town.  On  the  right  wing 
the  Poles,  under  Poniatowski,  fought  like  lions ; 
they  were  taking  the  city  of  their  fathers  once 
more.  By  five  o'clock  the  positions  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  river,  under  the  Emperor's  eye,  were 
taken.  But  General  de  Tolly  brought  up  strong 
reinforcements — General  Baggowouth  with  his 
whole  corps,  the  Prince  of  Wiirtemberg  with  a 
division  of  grenadiers  and  two  battalions  of  the 
Russian  Guard.  It  was  six  o'clock  before  they 
got  far  enough  for  the  guns  to  reach  the  walls  of 
the  town.  Eventually  the  French  took  it  by 
storm,  but  it  was  so  dark  that  Barclay  de  Tolly 
succeeded  in  withdrawing  the  remainder  of  his 
army  from  Smolensk. 

The  French  regiments  dashed  in  in  triumph, 
proud  of  a  victory  that  had  caused  Russia 
such  severe  losses,  but  it  was  quite  deserted, 
and  very  shortly  the  whole  of  Smolensk  was 
in  flames.  The  bulletin  that  announced  in 
France  the  taking  of  a  town  that  was  reduced 
to  ashes  excited  little  enthusiasm,  if  not  the 
reverse ;  and  even  in  the  army  some  of 
the  officers  began  to  make  disquieting  remarks. 
But  Napoleon  pressed  on  from  day  to  day  in 
pursuit  of  the  Russian  armies  in  front  of  him. 
From  Smolensk  he  sent  the  divisions  of  Compans 
and  Gudin,  General  Bruyeres'  cavalry  and  King 
Joachim  Murat,  to  head  off  Barclay  de  Tolly.  At 
the  same  time  Junot  was  ordered  to  take  up  a 
position  at  Walutina  and  cut  off  the  Russians 
from  the  narrow  passes.  But  General  de  Tolly 


208  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

altered  his  original  plan  of  retreating  northwards 
towards  St.  Petersburg.  He  determined  to  make 
one  more  attempt  to  join  Bagration  on  the  road 
to  Moscow. 

Napoleon  learned  this  and  dispatched  Ney  in 
all  haste  to  intercept  him.  The  armies  met  at 
Walutina,  and  Ney  won  a  brilliant  victory,  but 
here  again,  as  in  the  whole  of  this  campaign, 
something  untoward  happened.  They  had  at 
last  succeeded  in  attacking  Barclay  de  Tolly's 
army  apart  from  Bagration,  and  in  such  a  position 
that  not  a  single  man  could  have  escaped  if 
General  Junot  had  done  his  duty  and  taken  up  a 
position,  as  he  was  ordered,  in  the  passes,  which 
formed  the  only  escape  from  the  field  at  Walutina. 

When  General  Grouchy  brought  the  news  of 
the  battle  to  the  Emperor,  he  rode  over  to  Ney. 
All  were  agreed,  when  they  saw  the  field  of  battle, 
that  the  carelessness  and  stupidity  of  the  Duke 
of  Abrantes  alone  were  responsible  for  the  failure 
to  destroy  or  capture  the  whole  Russian  army. 
This  brought  his  brilliant  career  to  a  close. 
Napoleon  had  loaded  him  with  wealth,  though  he 
had  dissipated  this  with  the  most  tasteless  prodi- 
gality and  undermined  his  own  strength  with  his 
excesses.  He  was  one  of  the  bravest  and  most 
daring,  the  first  pistol-shot  in  the  army,  a  good 
comrade  and  fine  fellow ;  but  a  dangerous  man, 
with  unrestrained  passions.  Whether  his  good 
luck  was  the  cause,  or  his  wild  life,  or  a  sabre-cut 
on  the  head  (which  the  Duchess  of  Abrantes 
always  alleged  as  his  excuse),  it  is  hard  to  say,  but, 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  209 

after  being  unreliable  and  fantastic  all  his  life, 
he  became  worse  and  worse,  and  ended  in  insanity. 

At  Smolensk,  where  Junot  was  to  lead  the 
attack,  his  orders  were  obscure  and  unsound. 
Murat  galloped  up  to  him. 

'  What  are  you  doing  ?'  he  shouted.  '  Why 
don't  you  advance  ?' 

';My  Westphalians  won't  move.' 

c  I  will  put  some  spirit  into  them,'  cried  King 
Joachim,  and  he  flung  himself  on  the  Russians 
with  a  few  squadrons  and  swept  everything  before 
him. 

'  See  that  ?'  he  shouted  again  to  Junot. 
'  There  is  half  your  marshal's  staff  won  for  you. 
Go  in  now  and  finish  it  yourself.  The  Russians 
are  lost.' 

Junot  would  not  move  however.  His  mind 
was  really  already  going,  though  the  others  did 
not  know  it.  When  he  failed  in  his  duty  again 
at  Walutina  and  spoiled  Ney's  fine  victory, 
Napoleon  angrily  determined  to  take  his  command 
away  from  him,  but  the  other  generals  inter- 
ceded for  him,  and  he  forgave  him  on  account 
of  their  old  friendship.  But  things  went  from 
bad  to  worse  with  him,  and  he  had  to  be  sent 
back  to  Illyria,  where  he  was  governor.  Here  he 
betrayed  his  condition  in  a  very  remarkable  way. 
He  gave  a  grand  ball  at  his  residence,  and  came 
to  it  with  his  shoes  whitened  instead  of  blackened, 
his  sword  and  all  his  decorations  round  his  neck, 
his  hair  curled,  a  three  cornered  hat  under  his 
arm,  and  white  gloves — in  other  respects  as  naked 
as  a  savage, 
o 


210  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

He  was  sent  at  once  to  Milan.  Here  he  had 
six  horses  harnessed  to  his  finest  carriage,  sat  on 
the  coachman's  box  in  full  uniform,  and  as  he 
drove  through  the  streets  of  Milan  filled  his 
carriage  with  loose  women.  He  was  then  sent  to 
his  native  place,  Montbard,  in  France,  and  put  an 
end  to  his  life  in  a  fit  of  madness  by  leaping  down 
from  a  garden  wall  and  breaking  his  thigh.  He 
was  so  violent  that  it  was  impossible  to  bind  the 
leg,  and  he  died  in  July,  1813.  The  Duchess  of 
Abrantes  bore  with  him  in  everything,  and  tried 
to  keep  him  on  his  feet,  and  in  good  relations  to 
the  Emperor,  as  long  as  she  could.  In  the  end 
Junot  had  utterly  forfeited  the  Emperor's  friend- 
ship, though  in  earlier  years  he  had  been  as  good 
a  friend  of  Napoleon  as  it  was  possible  for  anyone 
to  be. 

When  the  French  army  reached  Wiasma  on 
August  29th,  they  found  the  people  in  flight,  as  at 
Smolensk,  and  half  the  town  in  flames.  They 
had  to  extinguish  the  fire  themselves  and  save  the 
great  stores  of  provisions  that  were  not  yet 
destroyed.  At  this  place  the  quarrel  broke  out 
between  Davoust  and  Murat.  The  steady  and 
methodical  Duke  of  Auerstadt  had  for  some  time 
been  annoyed  with  the  volatile  King  of  Naples, 
as  he  took  off  the  cavalry  every  morning  and 
exhausted  them,  so  that  they  were  being  weakened 
every  day.  He  was  still  less  disposed  to  support 
these  useless  cavalry-demonstrations  with  his 
good  infantry.  He  therefore  forbade  General 
Compans,  in  presence  of  the  whole  corps,  to  obey 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  211 

King  Joachim.  Napoleon  himself  came  up,  and, 
though  he  must  have  felt  that  Davoust  was  right, 
he  was  influenced  by  the  relationship  to  Murat 
and  his  kingly  dignity,  and  ordered  Compans  to 
put  himself  under  Murat's  command. 

After  Smolensk  the  army  was  weakened  to  a 
disquieting  extent,  and  Berthier  had  the  courage 
to  point  out  to  the  Emperor  that  the  outlook  was 
bad.  Napoleon  called  him  an  old  woman,  and 
asked  him  if  he  wanted  to  go  to  Paris.  From  the 
time  when  he  had  called  them  out  on  this  cam- 
paign, after  they  had  had  a  short  rest — some  at 
Paris,  others  on  their  estates,  or  as  governors  and 
commanders  in  various  parts  of  Prance,  which 
was  then  a  good  deal  of  Europe — there  had  been 
a  certain  amount  of  bad  feeling  amongst  the 
officers,  especially  the  higher  and  older  ones. 
The  high  positions  and  good  incomes  he  had 
created  for  them  had  been  used  by  them  and 
their  wives  in  a  taste  for  luxury  and  splendour. 
Most  of  them,  moreover,  like  the  Emperor  himself, 
were  between  forty  and  fifty  years  of  age.  Their 
ambition  was  gradually  fading.  They  had  got 
enough  ;  and  their  families,  with  which  they  only 
spent  the  brief  interval  between  two  campaigns, 
clung  to  them  and  wanted  to  detain  them. 

They  all  appeared  at  the  Emperor's  summons, 
nevertheless,  and  when  they  had  shaken  off  their 
wives  and  children,  and  found  themselves  in  the 
saddle  once  more,  with  the  old  soldiers  and  the 
eager  young  men  crowding  round  them,  they 
returned  to  their  former  spirit,  and  rushed  on  to 


212  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

fresh  victories  like  the  brave  men  that  they  were. 
Especially  at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign,  when 
they  marched  eastwards  with  their  fine  regiments 
through  the  conquered  territories,  from  town  to 
town,  and  castle  to  castle,  like  the  lords  of  the 
world ;  when  they  joined  their  comrades  and 
friends  at  Dresden  and  saw  all  the  crowned  heads 
of  Europe  bowing  before  their  Emperor  they  felt 
themselves  in  the  grande  armee  once  more,  and 
every  man  from  the  highest  officer  to  the  common 
soldier  was  a  hero. 

No  one  could  possibly  have  foreseen  the 
horrors  they  were  to  encounter,  but  the  march 
into  Russia  was  from  the  first  so  utterly  different 
from  all  they  had  been  accustomed  to,  that  the 
officers  soon  began  to  be  uneasy.  There  had 
always  been  a  certain  number  of  malcontents,  but 
they  had  never  yet  ventured  to  express  their 
feelings,  because  Napoleon  went  on  from  one 
victory  to  another,  and  there  was  neither  time 
nor  mood  for  criticism.  Now  it  was  different. 
They  began  to  find  that  he  was  a  changed  man. 
Possibly  he  was  ;  but  they  themselves  were  not 
the  men  of  a  few  years  before. 


CHAPTER    VI 

As  the  French  drew  nearer  to  Moscow,  the 
excitement  increased  in  Russia  and  there  was  a 
growing  dissatisfaction  with  Barclay  de  Tolly.  A 
considerable  party  at  the  court  and  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  showed  an  irresistible  repugnance 
to  the  retreat-system,  and  at  last  everybody 
demanded  that  they  should  stand  and  make  a 
fight.  Public  opinion  singled  out  the  elderly, 
one-eyed  Field-marshal  Kutusow  as  commander. 
It  was  not  he  that  had  lost  the  battle  of  Austerlitz. 
They  had  followed  General  Weiroth's  plan  against 
his  wish.  On  the  other  hand  he  had  defeated 
the  Turks  several  times,  and  was  a  great  leader 
and  a  prudent  and  sagacious  officer.  Excess  had 
reduced  his  strength  so  much  that  he  could  keep 
his  horse  only  with  difficulty.  He  was  false  and 
faithless  and  utterly  bad ;  but  he  was  patient 
and  tough. 

He  received  the  supreme  command,  and  had 
General  Bennigsen,  the  victor  of  Eylau,  as  chief 
of  the  staff.  It  is  said  that  Barclay  de  Tolly 


214  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

wanted  to  give  battle  before  Kutusow  reached  the 
army,  but  it  was  the  aged  field-marshal  who  had 
indicated  the  heights  of  Borodino  as  the  battle- 
field. 

On  September  5th  the  advancing  French 
found  the  Russian  army  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle 
on  the  heights  in  front  of  them.  The  important 
position  Schwardina  was  fortified  like  a  redoubt, 
and  was  defended  by  Prince  Bagration  in  person. 
However,  Compans'  division  took  the  redoubt 
early  in  the  afternoon  of  the  5th  with  their  usual 
brilliancy.  It  was  the  first  triumph  for  the 
French.  During  the  night  and  on  the  following 
day  the  French  divisions  pushed  on  and  took  up 
their  positions.  After  a  few  hours'  sleep  in  his 
tent,  Napoleon  mounted  his  horse  in  the  early 
morning.  In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  on  the 
day  before  the  battle  M.  Bausset,  a  stout  and 
gouty  officer  of  the  palace,  who  was  related  to  the 
imperial  family,  made  his  appearance.  He  had 
come  straight  from  the  Tuileries,  and  brought  a 
letter  from  Marie  Louise  and  a  picture  of  the  little 
King  of  Rome.  The  Emperor  showed  the  picture 
to  all  the  generals  and  officers,  who  had  been 
brought  together  to  receive  their  orders  for  the 
following  day,  and  then  had  it  placed  on  a  chair 
in  front  of  his  tent,  to  the  delight  of  the  old 
grenadiers. 

The  same  morning  Colonel  Fabvrier  came 
from  Spain,  and  brought  the  news  of  the  unfortu- 
nate position  of  Marshal  Marmont.  Napoleon 
was  not  in  the  least  disturbed.  He  was  at  work 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  215 

the  whole  day  making  preparations  for  the 
victory,  of  which  neither  he  nor  any  man  in  the 
army  doubted  for  a  moment.  On  the  following 
morning,  September  7th,  he  strode  cheerfully  out 
of  his  tent  and  called  out  to  his  officers :  '  See 
the  glorious  sun,  gentlemen  !  That  is  the  sun  of 
Austerlitz.'  His  short  and  spirited  proclamation 
to  the  soldiers  was  read  to  each  company.  '  At 
last,'  it  ran,  '  you  have  come  to  face  the  great 
battle  that  you  have  sought  so  long.  Now 
victory  depends  on  you — the  victory  that  is  a 
necessity  for  us  all.  It  means  abundance  for  us, 
good  quarters,  and  a  speedy  return  to  our  country. 
Do  as  you  did  at  Austerlitz,  at  Friedland,  at 
Witebsk,  at  Smolensk,  and  the  remote  future 
will  tell  with  pride  of  your  deeds  this  day.  Let 
it  be  said  of  every  one  of  you :  he  was  in  the 
great  battle  on  the  plains  of  Moscow.' 

Napoleon  dismounted  at  the  Schwardina 
redoubt,  which  Compans  had  taken  and  occupied, 
and  the  bloody  battle  of  Borodino  opened.  The 
French  have  named  it  after  the  stream  Moskwa 
which  flows  by  the  spot,  and  one  of  Marshal  Ney's 
descendants  still  bears  the  title  of  Prince  of 
Moskwa.  Under  cover  of  two  batteries  of  the 
Guard  under  General  Sorbier,  General  Compans 
advanced  with  his  own  division  and  that  of 
Desaix — a  cousin  of  the  great  Desaix  who  fell  at 
Marengo.  They  rushed  the  trenches  that  pro- 
tected the  Russian  left  wing  under  General 
Bagration,  and  all  went  well  for  a  time.  In  a 
very  short  time,  however,  Compans  got  a  bullet 


216  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

in  the  shoulder  ;  Desaix,  who  replaced  him  in  the 
chief  command,  was  also  severely  wounded  ;  and 
Rapp,  who  took  Desaix's  place,  was  hit  four 
times  in  quick  succession — first  grazed  twice  with 
shots,  then  had  a  ball  in  his  unlucky  left  arm, 
and  lastly  a  shell  caught  him  on  the  left  hip 
and  threw  him  to  the  ground.  At  the  same  time 
Marshal  Davoust  had  his  horse  shot  under  him, 
and  one  of  his  pistols  went  off  and  brought  him 
also  to  the  ground.  General  Sorbier  sent  word 
to  the  Emperor  that  the  Prince  of  Eckmiihl  was 
killed.  It  was  not  so  bad  as  that,  however. 
Davoust  raised  himself  and  mounted  a  fresh  horse. 
But  these  mishaps  had  the  effect  of  spoiling  the 
first  attack. 

Napoleon  hastily  sent  Marshal  Ney  to  replace 
him  and  make  a  fresh  attack.  Meantime  the 
viceroy  Eugene  had  taken  the  village  of  Borodino. 
Bagration's  redoubts,  which  covered  Kutusow's 
left  wing,  were  then  taken  successively,  after  hard 
fighting,  by  Ney  and  Davoust.  It  was  still  only 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  the  Russian  left 
wing  was  in  a  very  dangerous  and  exposed  position 
and  almost  unsupported.  General  Baggowouth 
was  sent  to  help  Prince  Bagration  on  the  left  wing, 
though  Kutusow  had  for  some  time  had  quite 
enough  to  do  with  his  centre,  where  General 
Bonami  had  taken  the  trench  known  as  the 
great  redoubt.  The  intrepid  general  made  an 
obstinate  resistance,  until  he  fell  covered  with 
wounds,  and  the  Russians,  under  General  Paskie- 
witsch,  re-occupied  the  redoubt,  with  heavy  losses. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  217 

Kutusow  now  sent  considerable  masses  of  troops 
to  relieve  the  pressure  on  his  left  wing,  but 
Napoleon  sent  into  action  a  battery  of  the  reserve 
with  24  guns.  The  Russians  pressed  forward 
once  more,  but  General  Lepoultre,  St.  Germain's 
curassiers,  and  PajoPs  and  Bruyeres's  hussars 
opposed  them,  and  forced  them  back  after  a 
bloody  fight. 

At  last  Napoleon  gathered  all  his  strength  to 
break  the  enemy's  lines,  which  had  now  been 
drawn  up  for  the  third  time.  In  face  of  a  furious 
cannonade  at  short  range — there  were  800  guns 
in  action  on  either  side — Poniatowski  and  his 
Poles  advanced  on  the  right  wing.  Prince  Eugene 
attacked  the  large  redoubt  with  three  divisions. 
General  Montbrun  rode  like  the  wind  at  the  head 
of  his  curassiers.  He  fell,  and  August  Caulaincourt 
took  over  the  command.  He  rode  with  the 
curassiers  right  into  the  entrance  to  the  redoubt 
and  fell  there.  But  at  the  same  time  Prince 
Eugene  advanced  from  another  side  and  the 
fight  ended  with  appalling  loss  to  the  Russians. 
However,  the  rest  of  Kutusow's  army  remained 
under  the  French  fire  until  dark,  and  retreated 
during  the  night. 

Napoleon's  victory  was  complete,  but,  like 
all  the  other  victories  in  this  campaign,  it  had  no 
particular  consequences.  In  order  to  thoroughly 
rout  the  Russian  army  it  would  have  been 
necessary  to  use  the  Guard,  which  stood  idle 
throughout  the  battle*  It  has  often  been  ques- 
tioned whether  Napoleon  was  right  in  sparing 
his  best  troops. 


218  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

General  Segur,  who  had  certain  relations  with 
Russia,  his  father  having  served  under  Catherine  II, 
and  he  himself  having  married  into  the  family 
Rostoptschin,  has  said  a  good  deal  in  his  memoirs 
that  is  vigorously  denied  by  General  Gourgaud, 
who  went  with  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena.  Segur 
relates  that  in  the  battle  of  Borodino  Murat  had 
to  seize  a  colonel  by  the  throat  to  make 
him  advance.  Gourgaud,  however,  says  this  is 
impossible.  The  colonel  in  question  was  in 
General  Friant's  division,  in  which  not  a  single 
man,  much  less  a  high  officer,  ever  drew  back ; 
and  the  division  did  not  belie  its  reputation  at 
Borodino,  but  took  and  held  the  position  at 
Semenowski  with  its  usual  bravery.  Segur 
describes  Napoleon  as  ill  and  listless  all  day  at 
Borodino,  and  says  that  all  the  generals  were 
angry  because  he  would  not  employ  the  Guard. 
Murat  sent  his  adjutant  Borelli  to  ask  for  help, 
but  received  none.  General  Mouton,  Count  of 
Lobau,  let  a  part  of  the  Guard  advance  on 
his  own  responsibility,  and  Lauriston  at  length 
received  permission  to  go  forward  with  the 
artillery. 

Gourgaud  describes  all  this  as  chatter  on  the 
part  of  the  *  palace-official.'  He  declares  that 
General  Sorbier  was  under  fire  with  part  of  the 
artillery  of  the  Guard  from  the  commencement  of 
the  battle  ;  and  that  is  true.  When  the  Emperor 
saw  the  enemy  advancing  on  Semenowski,  he 
sent  to  the  relief  of  Friant's  division  both  Murat 
and  the  reserve  artillery  of  the  Guard.  Besides 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  219 

that,  Roquet's  division  was  made  to  take  up  a 
position  as  reserve  behind  Friant,  in  front  of  the 
young  Guard.  During  the  battle  the  old  Guard 
was  drawn  up  in  columns  of  battalions  at  intervals 
of  60  paces  behind  Napoleon,  and  this  must  have 
made  the  enemy  think  they  were  twice  as  strong 
as  they  really  were.  The  young  Guard  was  in 
front  of  them.  The  line  of  the  enemy  formed  a 
triangle,  with  the  apex  towards  the  Schwardina 
position,  where  Napoleon  was,  and  the  wings 
drawn  back  somewhat. 

Gourgand  also  contests  everything  that  Segur 
has  said  of  the  Emperor's  listlessness  and  the 
general  dissatisfaction  with  the  inactivity  of  the 
Guard.  He  will  only  admit  that  the  Emperor 
lost  his  voice  for  a  time  on  September  7th  and  8th, 
but  says  that  he  commanded  with  his  usual 
vivacity,  and  tired  out  several  horses.  That 
Napoleon  had  a  cold  and  was  unwell  all  day  is 
quite  certain ;  but  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that 
he  had  any  other  trouble,  of  a  nature  to  interfere 
with  his  mental  powers.  If  he  would  not  use 
more  of  the  Guard  in  compliance  with  Ney  and 
Murat's  repeated  entreaties,  we  must  remember 
that  the  issue  was  doubtful  and  they  were  far 
from  Paris,  and  that  the  Guard  was  the  only  part 
of  his  army  unaffected  by  the  fighting.  Finally, 
Napoleon  could  not  see  from  the  Schwardina 
trench  the  gap  in  the  enemy's  centre  in  front  of 
Ney  and  Murat.  However,  these  criticisms  show 
that  a  change  was  beginning  amongst  Napoleon's 
followers. 


220  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

'  The  bivouac  at  night  after  the  battle  of 
Borodino  was  a  sad  one,'  says  one  of  the  surviving 
officers.  '  We  put  one  corpse  on  another  to  make 
a  seat  by  the  fire.'  The  imperfect  victory  had 
been  won  at  an  extraordinary  loss  in  officers. 
Altogether  there  were  90,000  casualties  on  both 
sides.  The  Russians  lost  four  generals,  Kutaisoff, 
the  two  Toutchakoffs,  and  Prince  Bagration 
himself.  The  French  lost  thirteen  generals,  and 
twenty  others  were  more  or  less  dangerously 
wounded.  The  most  famous  of  all  the  dead 
officers  was  the  cavalry-general  Montbrun,  the 
hero  of  Somo-Sierra,  one  of  the  best  left  after 
d'Hautpoul,  d'Espagne,  and  Lasalle.  August  de 
Caulaincourt  also  was  a  brilliant  and  greatly  liked 
officer,  a  brother  of  the  Duke  of  Vicenza.  Marshal 
Bessieres  lost  his  brother  General  Bessieres.  The 
engineer  -  general  Lariboisiere  and  the  brave 
General  Friant  each  lost  a  son  in  the  battle. 
General  Bonami,  who  remained  lying  in  the  great 
redoubt  with  twenty  wounds  when  the  Russians 
re-occupied  it,  died  of  his  wounds.  Another 
victim  was  the  handsome  Canouville,  who  had 
become  a  general  in  the  cavalry  since  the  time 
when  he  received  Pauline  Borghese's  fur  with  the 
diamond  clasps. 

We  can  form  some  idea  of  the  intensity  of  the 
fight  and  the  nearness  of  the  opposing  forces  to 
each  other,  when  we  read  on  the  list  of  wounded 
officers  the  names  of  Davoust,  Morand,  Friant, 
Compans,  Rapp,  Belliard,  Nansouty,  St.  Germain, 
Teste,  and  Pajol— a  marshal  and  a  number  of 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  221 

the  leading  generals  of  divisions.  To  these  we 
must  add  hundreds  of  officers  of  all  grades,  men 
who  had  been  in  Italy  and  Egypt,  and  were  all 
personally  known  to  Napoleon.  There  had  been 
such  carnage  immediately  round  him  as  had  never 
been  seen  before,  even  at  Eylau.  Of  the  highest 
generals,  only  three — and  they  were  three  of  the 
most  intrepid — were  quite  untouched :  Barclay 
de  Tolly  on  the  Russian  side,  and  Murat  and  Ney 
on  the  French.  The  latter  two  stood  like  statues 
in  the  rain  of  balls  and  were  not  touched.  Ney 
made  his  men  find  cover  by  lying  down,  and  he 
himself  stood  erect  in  the  midst  of  them  like  a 
simple  grenadier  captain.  Murat  sprang  from  his 
horse  and  preceded  Friant's  division  on  foot  at 
Semenowski. 

After  the  battle  of  Borodino  Kutusow 
retreated  in  the  direction  of  Moscow.  For  a 
moment  it  looked  as  if  he  were  going  to  venture 
on  a  battle  atMoshaisk.  He  had  sworn  by  his 
grey  hairs  to  defend  the  old  capital  of  the  Tsars 
with  his  last  man.  But  on  September  14th  the 
field-marshal  withdrew  with  his  defeated  army 
beyond  Moscow,  to  the  bitter  sorrow  of  his  officers 
and  army.  He  nevertheless  sent  a  proclamation 
to  Moscow  that  the  French  had  lost  at  Borodino, 
and  two  bulletins  were  sent  to  St.  Petersburg  from 
his  head-quarters  announcing  that  the  French 
had  been  thoroughly  beaten  at  Moshaisk,  the 
Imperial  Guard  annihilated,  100  guns  and  1,000 
prisoners  taken,  including  the  Viceroy  Eugene 
and  the  Duke  of  Auertsadt,  and  that  the  enemy 


222  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

was  being  pursued  by  General  Plato w's  30,000 
Cossacks. 

The  Tsar  distributed  great  distinctions  and 
awards  amongst  the  army  on  the  strength  of  this. 
The  truth  was,  however,  that  Kutusow  was  being 
pursued  so  hotly  by  Murat  and  Eugene  that 
General  Miloradowitsch,  in  order  to  save  him  on 
the  streets  of  Moscow,  threatened  to  set  the  town 
on  fire  if  a  brief  armistice  were  not  granted. 
Less  out  of  fear  of  the  threat  than  from  the  hope 
of  the  result  of  an  interview  with  Alexander, 
Napoleon  granted  the  armistice.  It  was  given 
orally,  without  the  usual  formalities.  The  French 
army  at  last  looked  down  from  the  summits  of 
the  hills  on  the  great  city,  its  white  buildings  and 
golden  domes  lying  like  a  dream  in  the  sunshine. 
Even  Napoleon  lost  his  balance  for  a  moment. 
The  others  all  broke  out  into  jubilation. 

Next  day  the  Emperor  entered  the  Kremlin, 
the  ancient  castle  of  the  Tsars.  It  was  the  most 
remarkable  of  all  the  foreign  castles  he  had 
visited,  and  his  entry  into  it  was  the  most  romantic 
in  his  whole  career.  Moscow  was  not  wholly 
abandoned.  The  French  found  many  of  the 
palaces  of  the  Russian  nobility  open  and  provided 
with  servants  and  all  the  rest.  Wealthy  merchants 
had  put  their  property  and  stores  under  the 
protection  of  the  French  officers,  with  the  intention 
of  returning  soon.  The  Kremlin  was  full  of 
powder  and  arms.  The  city,  as  it  was  then, 
offered  convenient  and  comfortable  winter- 
quarters  for  the  army,  and  Napoleon  at  once  began 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  223 

to  issue  orders  and  to  organise  ;  first  of  all  in  the 
army,  where  discipline  had  been  relaxed,  and 
many  other  things  were  not  as  they  should  be. 
He  had  troops  enough  to  keep  off  Kutusow  ;  and 
now  that  he  was  in  one  capital  and  the  Emperor 
of  Russia  in  the  other,  he  was  convinced  that  the 
noble  ruler  he  had  met  at  Erfurt  would  reach  out 
the  hand  of  reconciliation.  Peace  could  be  con- 
cluded between  himself  and  his  friend  and 
admirer  in  the  spring. 

The  soldiers,  on  their  side,  hailed  Moscow  as 
the  end  of  all  their  trials.  With  boundless 
confidence  in  their  great  leader,  whom  fortune 
had  never  yet  failed,  they  proudly  turned  to  enjoy 
their  rest  in  the  beautiful  capital  of  the  Tsars. 
But  Moscow  broke  into  flames  in  the  night  between 
the  15th  and  16th  of  September.  The  fires  were 
of  such  a  nature  that  the  city  had  evidently  been 
set  in  flames  at  several  different  points  with  a 
view  to  its  total  destruction.  The  plot  was 
furthered  by  the  Governor  of  Moscow.  He  had 
stored  up  masses  of  inflammable  materials  in  the 
garden  of  his  palace,  and  this  he  distributed 
amongst  criminals  released  from  the  jails.  These 
had  to  spread  them  throughout  the  city,  and  set 
fire  to  it.  He  had  had  the  hose-pipes  removed, 
and  all  the  efforts  of  the  French  to  master  the 
fearful  conflagration  proved  ineffectual.  They 
had  to  withdraw  step  by  step  from  the  city. 
Napoleon  had  to  leave  the  Kremlin,  in  the  vaults 
of  which  there  were  masses  of  explosive  material. 
The  fire  already  threatened  the  powder-waggons 


224  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

of  the  Guard,  which  had  been  brought  into  the 
courtyard. 

From  September  16th  to  18th  the  city 
burned  day  and  night,  aided  by  a  strong  wind 
that  veered  round  several  times.  In  the  end  four- 
fifths  of  the  city  were  destroyed— an  immense 
stretch  of  desolation,  as  the  oriental  city  extended 
far  with  its  palaces  and  monasteries  with  large 
gardens  and  numerous  outlying  buildings.  There 
were  15,000  wounded  Russians  in  the  hospitals. 
Prince  Rostoptschin,  the  governor,  lost  all  his 
wealth  and  the  beautiful  palace  of  his  ancestors. 
'  I  have  brought  nothing  with  me  except  the  coat 
I  have  on,'  he  said.  It  has  been  stated  that  he 
had  Moscow  burned  down  in  a  fit  of  desperate 
patriotism,  without  telling  his  design  to  anyone. 
That  is  altogether  incredible.  Such  conduct  on 
the  part  of  a  high-placed  official  is  hardly  possible 
in  any  country ;  it  is  quite  inconceivable  in  a 
country  where  not  the  slightest  thing  is  done 
without  an  order  from  above.  Prince  Rostopt- 
schin sacrificed  his  palace  and  the  holy  city  of 
Moscow  because  he  was  an  obedient  subject,  and 
because,  like  every  Russian,  he  had  in  his  heart 
the  law :  '  Everything  for  the  Tsar  !'  He  either 
received  an  express  command,  or  else  he  had 
powers  entrusted  to  him  that  covered  his  desperate 
deed.  The  superstition  that  the  white  Tsar  has 
never  anything  to  do  with  the  frightful  things 
that  happen  in  Russia  is  not  confined  to  that 
country.  The  whole  of  Europe  is  stupid  on 
Russian  questions.  Even  to-day  we  are  asked  to 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  225 

play  this  childish  game  and  regard  the  Tsar  as 
the  innocent  dupe  of  his  surroundings.  In  Russia 
nothing  is  done  without  the  knowledge  and  wish 
of  the  Tsar. 

After  the  fire  Russian  peasants  and  French 
soldiers  poured  into  the  cellars  and  stores  in  search 
of  plunder.  The  Emperor  fixed  his  head-quarters 
in  the  Kremlin  once  more,  as  well  as  could  be 
managed.  He  was  determined  to  be  there.  On 
September  21st,  however,  General  Sebastini  sent 
word  that  he  had  lost  sight  of  the  enemy,  and  it 
was  feared  that  they  might  be  cut  off  and  sur- 
rounded. In  point  of  fact  that  was  Kutusow's 
intention.  He  had  marched  toward  the  south- 
west. Murat  and  Bessieres,  who  were  sent  in 
search  of  him,  drove  the  Russians  back  in  the 
direction  of  Kaluga.  Napoleon  would  not  give 
up  the  hope  of  hearing  from  the  Tsar.  He  had 
even  tried  a  semi-official  rapprochement.  But  he 
had  to  decide  what  to  do  with  his  army.  It  was 
now  too  weak  to  be  able  to  attack  Kutusow  in  the 
open  field  far  in  the  interior  of  Russia.  On 
the  other  hand  the  condition  of  Moscow  made  it 
impossible  for  them  to  spend  the  winter  there. 
All  the  generals  were  for  retreating  to  Poland. 
Napoleon  was  alone  in  his  resistance  to  this 
proposal.  It  would  have  destroyed  the  idea  of 
his  invincibility  and  raised  the  whole  of  Europe 
against  him. 

There  was  now  so  great  a  change  amongst 
Napoleon's  followers  that  he  had  his  plan  written 
down  and  laid  before  the  men  who  up  to  that  time 
p 


226  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

had  been  accustomed  only  to  receive  orders  and 
obey  them.  His  plan  was  to  march  north-west 
until  they  could  unite  with  Marshals  Victor, 
St.  Cyr,  and  Macdonald,  who  were  in  the  Baltic 
provinces.  With  these  and  all  the  other  troops 
he  could  bring  up  he  would  advance  on  St. 
Petersburg  in  the  spring.  The  plan  was  formed 
in  the  early  days  of  October.  All  his  generals 
were  opposed  to  a  fresh  march  to  the  north  and 
fresh  annexations,  and  Napoleon  could  no  longer 
command  as  he  had  done  in  more  fortunate  days. 
He  was  forced  to  give  way.  He  then  wanted  to 
send  Caulaincourt  to  St.  Petersburg,  but  that 
officer  declared  it  to  be  of  no  use.  He  had  heard 
the  same  from  Count  Narbonne. 

These  two  nobles  of  the  old  court  were  the 
Emperor's  most  valued  diplomatists  and  envoys 
in  important  matters,  and  they  lived  through  all 
the  hardships  of  the  Russian  campaign.  Count 
Narbonne  was  the  only  man  that  preserved  his 
good  temper  and  his  gaiety  of  manner ;  the 
gentlemanly  air,  that  was  more  superficial  hi  the 
others,  was  swept  away  hi  the  evil  days,  and  their 
disappointment  and  irritation  were  plainly  mani- 
fested. It  is  said  that  right  down  to  the 
awful  days  on  the  Beresina,  Narbonne  would  sit 
on  a  stone  or  the  root  of  a  tree  every  morning  and 
powder  his  wig.  Although  he  was  in  his  fiftieth 
year,  he  escaped  with  his  life  ;  but  he  died  in  1813, 
as  Governor  of  Torgau,  after  a  fall  from  his 
horse. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  227 

General  Lauriston  was  then  sent  to  Kutusow 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  truce  or  at  least  an 
armistice.  He  was  deceived  and  fooled  at  the 
Russian  headquarters  on  all  the  rules  of  the  art. 
In  the  meantime  there  was  a  kind  of  tacit  armistice, 
though  the  Russians  did  not  respect  it.  One  of 
the  Tsar's  flying  adjutants,  who  had  been  taken 
prisoner,  was  sent  to  St.  Petersburg  with  fresh 
proposals  for  a  rapprochement,  and  the  Emperor 
decided  to  wait  ten  or  twelve  days  for  an  answer. 
There  was  no  idea  of  sending  one  at  St.  Petersburg. 

Napoleon  had  been  informed  that  the  frost 
would  set  in  about  the  middle  of  November.  He 
collected  provisions  and  ammunition,  repaired  and 
strengthened  the  Kremlin,  opened  the  theatres, 
and  led  France  and  Europe  from  Moscow  by  means 
of  couriers.  There  are  regulations  of  the  Theatre 
Fran^ais  that  are  dated  from  the  Kremlin  at 
this  time.  Meantime  Russia  had  come  into  close 
touch  with  England.  The  Emperor  Alexander 
also  had  an  interview  with  Bernadotte  at  Aabo, 
where  it  was  agreed  to  recognise  the  annexation 
of  Norway,  and  send  to  Riga  the  Russian  troops 
that  were  in  Finland.  Peace  was  concluded  with 
Turkey,  and  this  enabled  Admiral  Tschitschagow 
to  assume  supreme  command  of  the  troops  under 
General  Tormasoff  that  threatened  the  French 
retreat  from  the  south,  and  lead  the  whole  force 
northward  into  the  district  of  the  Beresina.  The 
plan  for  the  demolition  of  the  retreating  army 
was  as  follows.  Wittgenstein  was  to  attack  from 
the  north,  Kutusow  from  the  rear,  and  Admiral 


228  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Tschitschagow,  who  proved  himself  an  able  general 
on  land,  from  the  south. 

When  the  French  army  had  rested  in  Moscow 
and  had  once  more  been  brought  into  order,  there 
were  still  100,000  splendid  soldiers  and  600  guns, 
but  there  was  a  lack  of  horses.  The  weather  was 
fine,  mild,  and  clear.  Napoleon  reflected  all  the 
time  on  his  plan  of  advancing  on  St.  Petersburg, 
but  with  the  approach  of  winter  his  generals 
were  less  disposed  every  day  to  march  northwards  ; 
they  looked  rather  southwards,  towards  Kaluga 
and  the  fertile  provinces.  While  they  were  still 
discussing  it,  the  news  came  one  day  when 
Napoleon  was  reviewing  Ney's  corps,  that  was 
to  march  from  Moscow,  that  Kutusow  had  broken 
the  armistice  on  October  18th,  and  attacked  King 
Jerome  during  the  night  with  an  overpowering 
force.  Murat  was  quite  unprepared.  As  a  man 
of  honour  he  had  relied  on  the  negotiations  that 
promised  a  few  hours'  rest  before  the  cessation 
of  the  armistice.  However,  a  series  of  brilliant 
actions  and  judicious  manoeuvres  enabled  Murat 
and  Poniatowski  to  escape  with  the  loss  of  part 
of  their  baggage.  This  treacherous  attack  at 
Winkowo,  where  Kutusow  sent  Generals  Baggo- 
wouth,  Ostermann,  Doctoroff,  Orloff,  Denisow,  and 
Miiller,  against  Murat,  Poniatowski,  and  Sebastiani 
who  were  really  only  in  charge  of  advanced 
posts,  became  a  battle  of  which  the  French  might 
well  be  proud.  But  the  victory  had  no  significance 
and  the  Emperor  was  displeased  with  Murat, 
because  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  surprised. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  229 

Napoleon  then  ordered  an  advance  against 
Kutusow.  Moscow  was  abandoned  on  October 
23rd. 

On  the  same  day  Napoleon  heard  of  Malet' s 
conspiracy  at  Paris.  The  whole  affair  was  really 
insignificant  and  more  or  less  ridiculous,  but  it 
made  a  painful  impression  on  the  Emperor. 
General  Malet  was  a  fanatical  republican,  and  had 
been  imprisoned  in  1807  for  plotting  against  the 
constitution.  In  1812  he  was  shut  up  in  an 
asylum  at  Paris.  One  day  he  leaped  out  of  the 
window,  and  ran  into  the  city.  He  had  a  number 
of  proclamations  and  nominations  ready,  and  he 
began  to  distribute  them.  Some  young  men 
joined  him,  and  hastily  made  themselves  a  sort  of 
uniform  with  tricoloured  scarves.  At  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning  Malet  approached  Colonel  Soulier, 
a  brave  but  stupid  officer,  and  unacquainted  with 
Malet.  The  latter  represented  himself  as  General 
Lamotte,  and  said  he  had  come  straight  from 
Russia  with  the  news  that  the  Emperor  had  died 
on  October  8th.  He  asked  for  a  few  troops  to  be 
put  at  his  disposal. 

Soulier  was  duped  and  gave  him  1,200  men, 
but  without  cartridges  or  flints  in  their  locks. 
With  these  General  Malet  went  to  the  La  Force 
prison,  and  set  free  Generals  Guidal  and  Lahorie, 
who  had  been  incarcerated  for  political  intrigues. 
He  then  issued  a  number  of  orders,  went  to  the 
commander  at  Paris,  General  Hullin,  and  shot  him 
through  the  cheek  with  a  pistol.  However,  other 
officers  came  up,  and  Malet  was  overpowered. 


230  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

In  the  meantime  the  released  General  Lahorie 
entered  Savary's  room — he  was  then  Minister  of 
Police  and  had  him  arrested  and  put  in  La  Force. 
This  curious  state  of  things,  however,  only  lasted 
half  an  hour.  When  Savary  and  the  others  came 
to  their  senses  the  whole  thing  fell  to  the  ground. 
When  the  Minister  of  Police  returned  from  the 
prison  to  his  cabinet  he  found  General  Lahorie 
bound  to  a  chair.  But  Savary  never  came  to 
see  the  humorous  side  of  the  matter. 

That  was  the  whole  episode.  But  from  the 
fact  that  anything  of  the  kind  could  happen  at 
the  mere  rumour  of  his  death  the  Emperor  saw 
how  frail  the  security  really  was  of  his  vast  power, 
and  how  little  root  he  and  his  dynasty  had  taken 
in  the  people,  apart  from  the  army.  It  had 
occurred  to  no  one  in  Paris  to  hasten  to  the 
widowed  Empress  and  the  little  heir  to  the  throne. 
He  therefore  quitted  Moscow,  leaving  Marshal 
Mortier  behind  to  blow  up  the  Kremlin.  All  now 
understood  that  the  retreat  had  commenced,  and 
all  the  French  women,  servants,  and  families, 
started  with  them  on  the  long  journey.  The 
weather  was  still  fine,  and  the  soldiers  were  in 
good  spirits. 

It  was  Napoleon's  first  intention  to  march 
on  the  old  route  toward  Kaluga  against  Kutusow, 
but  he  suddenly  altered  his  plan,  pressed  on  in  a 
straight  line,  and  struck  the  new  road  to  Kaluga. 
By  this  change  he  expected  to  avoid  an  encounter 
with  Kutusow,  and  pass  through  the  town  of 
Malo-Jaroslawetz.  This  difficult  manoeuvre  was 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  231 

most  ably  and  speedily  executed.  None  but  a 
French  army  could  have  deceived  an  enemy  that 
was  scattered  all  round  it.  The  issue  of  it  would 
have  been  assured  if  Eugene,  or  rather  General 
Delzons,  had  occupied  Malo-Jaroslawetz  with  an 
entire  division,  as  the  Emperor  originally  directed. 
But  Kutusow  had  discovered  Napoleon's  stratagem 
and  sent  General  Doctoroff  against  Delzons' 
division,  which  was  too  weak  to  sustain  the  attack. 
Delzons  redeemed  his  fault  by  re-taking  the 
position,  but  he  himself  was  killed  in  the  battle 
that  ensued.  There  were  two  brothers  of  the 
name  of  Delzons,  both  generals.  When  the  first 
one  was  killed,  the  other  hastened  to  him,  and 
soon  fell  dead  beside  him.  Napoleon  galloped 
up,  and  there  was  a  hard  fight  round  the  little 
town  of  Malo-Jaroslawetz,  which  was  lost  and 
taken  five  or  six  times.  At  last  Davoust  came  up 
with  the  divisions  of  Gerard  and  Compans,  and 
drove  the  Russians  back.  But  it  was  now  growing 
dark,  and  the  army  had  to  remain  in  the  position. 
After  the  fight  at  Malo-Jaroslawetz,  the 
French  army  no  longer  sought  a  regular  battle ; 
however  successful,  the  result  was  always  to 
weaken  their  forces.  The  weather  began  to  be 
raw  and  rainy.  The  generals  wanted  to  advance 
on  Moshaisk  in  order  to  strike  the  road  to  Smolensk. 
On  the  26th  of  October  Napoleon  had  to  give  way 
and  openly  recognise  that  he  was  in  retreat.  It 
was  the  first  time  in  his  life  that  he  yielded  to  the 
wishes  of  those  about  him.  In  the  meantime 
Marshal  Mortier  rejoined  the  army.  The 


232  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

retreating    troops    had    heard    the    roar    of    the 
explosion  as  he  blew  up  the  Kremlin. 

It  was  on  the  march  back  from  Moscow  that 
the  terrors  began.  The  generals  gradually  lost 
control  of  the  desperate  soldiers,  the  wounded 
remained  lying  along  the  route,  the  powder- 
waggons  were  exploded,  and  disorder  spread  over 
the  whole  army.  Even  Davoust  could  not  arrest 
it.  He  marched  in  the  rear  with  the  relics  of  his 
splendid  first  corps,  and  had  part  of  the  respon- 
sibility for  all  that  was  done  and  in  the  daily 
fights  with  the  enemy.  Kutusow  was  content  to 
march  as  closely  as  he  could  behind  the  army,  and 
harrass  the  French  with  his  Cossacks  and  General 
Plato w's  light  cavalry.  Although  Davoust  and 
his  men  performed  their  difficult  task  with 
incomparable  bravery,  the  Emperor  was  so  unjust 
as  to  remove  the  first  corps — not  to  give  it  the 
rest  that  it  so  badly  needed,  but  because,  he  said, 
the  marshal  was  too  slow  and  methodical  in  his 
march.  Napoleon  himself  rode  at  the  head  of 
the  Guard,  who  consumed  all  they  found,  and 
burned  everything  behind  them.  He  saw  nothing 
of  the  frightful  misery  or  the  endless  trudging  of 
unarmed  men,  who  should  have  been  protected 
every  day  from  the  Cossacks  and  provided  with 
food.  He  did  not  want  to  see  anything.  He  rode 
along  in  silence  with  Berthier,  who  had  lost  his 
head  and  was  nearly  beside  himself.  From  time 
to  time  the  Emperor  rode  on  to  a  height,  and 
complained  bitterly  of  his  generals. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  233 

One  day  there  was  an  angry  scene  between 
the  Emperor  and  Davoust,  and  they  hardly  spoke 
another  word  to  each  other  until  the  end  of  the 
campaign.  The  rear-guard  of  the  army  now  fell 
to  Marshal  Ney,  the  Prince  of  Moskwa.  On 
November  9th,  during  the  march  from  Dorogo- 
busch,  the  snow-storms  began.  They  caused  50,000 
unarmed  men  and  a  number  of  women  to  fall  out 
of  the  army.  The  whole  of  the  cavalry,  except 
the  Guard,  had  lost  their  horses.  The  animals 
had  already  suffered  heavily  from  the  morasses 
and  bad  roads  during  the  march,  and  now  the 
frost  set  in  and  revealed  the  utter  unfitness  of  the 
French  horses  for  a  campaign  in  Russia  on  slippery 
ice.  On  the  way  from  Dorogobusch  to  Smolensk, 
news  came  that  the  Russian  armies  were  advancing 
from  the  north  and  the  south,  and  were  gathering 
on  the  Beresina  and  in  the  marshes  along  the 
river.  This  put  an  end  to  Napoleon's  plan  of 
making  a  halt  at  Smolensk  to  collect  provisions 
and  join  with  fresh  troops.  During  the  march  the 
viceroy's  corps  had  suffered  heavily  on  crossing 
the  river  Wop.  It  had  lost  all  its  baggage  and 
guns,  and  a  large  number  of  men. 

Ney  had  been  with  Napoleon  from  his  earliest 
years,  in  all  the  great  battles  and  wherever 
desperate  manoeuvres  were  to  be  carried  out.  But 
his  name  will  always  be  most  closely  connected 
with  the  retreat  from  Russia.  This  remarkable 
man,  with  an  unflinching  courage  supported  by  a 
frame  of  iron,  knew  neither  fatigue  nor  illness ; 
he  slept  on  the  ground,  or  watched  day  and  night, 


234  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

ate  or  went  hungry,  and  nothing  seemed  to  affect 
him.  During  the  retreat  he  generally  walked  on 
foot  amongst  his  men,  and  sometimes  took  50  or 
100  men,  leading  them  like  an  ordinary  captain 
of  infantry  against  the  bullets  and  shells.  He 
was  always  cool  and  collected.  He  regarded  him- 
self as  invulnerable,  and  really  seemed  to  be  so. 
In  the  middle  of  a  fight  he  would  take  the  rifle 
from  the  hands  of  a  dying  soldier,  and  shoot  with 
it  himself.  It  was  he  who  awakened  the  sleepers 
and  drove  them  into  action  ;  he  was  unmoved  by 
tne  cries  of  the  wounded  for  the  ambulance.  He 
would  answer  curtly  that  he  had  only  two  legs, 
and  they  were  for  moving  forward,  and  that 
perhaps  he  himself  would  be  on  the  ground  to- 
morrow. Few  men  are  made  of  iron,  says  Thiers, 
and  one  may  be  hard  towards  others  when  one 
does  not  spare  oneself. 

It  was  between  Dorogobusch  and  Smolensk 
that  Ney  began  his  heroic  daily  fights  to  save  the 
Emperor  and  the  remains  of  the  grand  army. 
The  snow  now  fell  heavily,  and  an  icy-cold  wind 
swept  the  plains.  There  were  hardly  any  horses 
left,  and  nearly  everybody  walked  on  foot.  Some 
dropped  out  of  sheer  fatigue  ;  others  had  their 
hands  or  feet  frozen ;  all  were  tormented  with 
hunger.  The  few  who  could  hold  their  weapons 
had  to  defend  the  unarmed  against  the  Cossacks, 
who  followed  the  pitiful  procession  day  and  night, 
capturing,  plundering,  and  maltreating  stragglers, 
and  then  leaving  them  to  die  in  the  snow.  In 
spite  of  all  the  laxity  and  misery,  however,  there 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  235 

was  a  nucleus  of  officers  and  men — the  Emperor's 
old  comrades — who  maintained  their  coolness  and 
fighting  power,  and  forced  Kutusow  to  respect 
them.  The  Emperor  himself  met  the  reverse  like 
a  man.  He  rode  along  coolly,  refusing  to  see 
anything,  but  taken  up  with  fresh  big  plans. 
When  he  had  abandoned  his  own  plans  and 
accepted  those  of  the  others,  we  no  longer  find  in 
his  orders  the  rigid  accuracy  of  earlier  days  that 
rarely  failed  to  reach  the  mark. 

He  had  directed  that  the  army  should  leave 
Dorogobusch  in  three  divisions,  with  an  interval 
of  one  day  between  each.  The  consequence  of 
this  was  that  he  himself  reached  Smolensk  first 
with  the  Guard,  occupied  all  the  available  places, 
and  appropriated  all  the  provisions  in  the  place. 
These,  however,  were  by  no  means  so  abundant 
as  Napoleon  had  been  led  to  calculate.  When  the 
other  divisions  of  the  troops  came  up  there  was 
frightful  confusion.  The  magazines  were  plun- 
dered, men  fought  for  quarters,  all  discipline  was 
lost,  and  the  disorder  was  unbounded.  Thus, 
there  was  little  satisfaction  in  the  halt  at  Smolensk, 
where  Napoleon  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  reorganise 
the  best  parts  of  the  army,  and  at  least  to  find 
them  rest  and  provisions.  They  had  to  push  on 
in  the  same  state  of  confusion  and  misery  in  order 
to  reach  the  bridge  at  Orscha. 

At  Smolensk  Napoleon  heard  that  General 
d'Hilliers  had  been  completely  beaten  at  Elna. 
The  Emperor  sent  him  in  disgrace  to  Paris. 
Though  it  might  seem  an  enviable  lot  to  be  sent 


236  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

home  out  of  the  horrors  of  Russia,  the  affliction 
was  so  overpowering  for  the  proud  officer  that  he 
did  not  get  beyond  Berlin.  He  died  there  of 
grief.  He  had  been  close  to  Napoleon  ever  since 
the  first  campaign  in  Italy.  He  was  not  in  Egypt ; 
he  had  permission  to  return  home  from  Malta  as 
he  missed  his  wife  at  Paris  so  much. 

Burdened  with  60,000  unarmed  and  demoral- 
ised men,  the  remainder  of  the  army  left  Smolensk 
in  the  same  marching  order.  The  Emperor 
started  on  the  14th,  Eugene  and  Davoust  on  the 
15th,  and  Ney  on  the  16th.  Kutusow  had  caused 
his  army  to  retreat  after  the  hot  fight  at  Malo- 
Jaroslawetz,  so  that  for  a  time  the  armies  had  been 
back  to  back.  Napoleon  would  have  made  a 
different  use  of  this  opportunity  if  he  were  still 
the  commander  of  old.  Now  Kutusow  was  after 
him  again  in  forced  marches  with  his  large  army. 
He  let  the  Emperor  pass  at  Krasnoi,  and  then 
faced  Eugene  and  Davoust  with  80,000  men  under 
Rajewsky  and  Miloradowitsch.  Delzons'  division 
which  had  now  passed  to  General  Guilleminot,  a 
part  of  Broussiere's  cavalry,  and  General  Ornano 
got  safely  past  them.  The  viceroy  also  deceived 
the  Russians  by  an  astute  manoeuvre  and  got 
past  them.  But  Davoust  was  cut  off,  to  say 
nothing  of  Ney,  who  was  still  a  full  day's  march 
in  the  rear. 

Napoleon  could  by  this  time  have  reached 
Orscha  with  the  Guard  and  the  other  troops  that 
followed  him,  and  joined  Marshal  Victor  and  the 
other  reserves,  but  he  was  very  uneasy  about  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  237 

two  marshals  who  were  coming  on.  For  a  couple 
of  days  he  seemed  to  be  in  a  condition  of  dull 
indifference.  Then  he  shook  it  off,  and  took  the 
command  in  person.  With  a  staff  in  his  hand  he 
preceded  the  Guard  on  foot  and  led  them  back 
from  Krasnoi,  to  find  Davoust  in  the  midst  of  a 
fearful  artillery-fire,  rained  on  him  from  three 
sides.  The  small  force  he  flung  against  the  masses 
of  Russians  consisted  of  the  remains  of  good  corps  : 
the  young  Guard  under  Marshal  Mortier,  a  couple 
of  hundred  horse  from  Latour-Maubourg's  famous 
dragoons,  and  a  little  artillery  under  the  unflinching 
Drouot.  General  Claparede  was  in  the  meantime 
to  defend  Krasnoi  against  the  Russians,  who  were 
everywhere. 

During  the  battle  General  Laborde  was 
ordered  by  Marshal  Mortier  to  retreat  slowly.  He 
cried  out  to  his  men  :  '  The  marshal  has  ordered 
us  to  retreat  slowly,  so  march  on,  ordinary  step, 
soldiers.'  They  marched  in  perfect  order,  and 
were  reduced  to  a  few  thousand.  Kutusow  was 
duped  once  more.  He  recalled  Miloradowitsch's 
troops,  and  Davoust  seized  the  opportunity  to 
fight  his  way  through,  with  heavy  losses,  and  join 
the  Emperor.  But  nothing  could  be  seen  or  heard 
of  Ney,  who  was  a  day's  march  in  the  rear.  The 
great  point  now  was  to  reach  Orscha.  As  Napoleon 
marched  away,  he  left  an  ambiguous  order, 
because  he  did  not  want  to  have  the  responsibility 
of  leaving  Ney  in  the  lurch.  The  order  was  that 
Davoust  was  to  wait  for  Ney,  but  he  was  not  to 
separate  from  Mortier.  And  as  the  latter  had 


238  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

to   start   at   the   appointed   time,   Davoust   was 
compelled  to  follow  him. 

The  next  railing-point  was  Liady,  where 
they  were  all  full  of  concern  about  Ney,  whose  fate 
seemed  certain.  Ney  had  7,000  men  with  him,  to 
make  his  way  through  50,000  Russians.  His 
generals,  Ricard,  Dufour,  and  the  brave  Colonel 
Pelet,  broke  four  times  through  Miloradowitsch's 
front  ranks.  But  the  7,000  melted  down  to  3,000, 
and  the  marshal  led  these  with  bayonets  levelled 
against  the  heights  where  there  was  a  whole  army 
with  a  vast  artillery.  Generals  Marchand,  Ledru, 
and  Razoul  followed  him.  They  were  flung  back, 
and  Ney  collected  them  again  as  well  as  he  could, 
with  his  usual  coolness  and  firmness.  At  this 
moment  a  colonel  came  from  Miloradowitsch  with 
a  demand  for  Ney's  surrender,  but  Ney  would 
neither  retreat  nor  surrender,  though  his  men 
were  falling  all  round  him.  Colonel  Pelet  sat  on 
his  horse,  both  legs  and  one  arm  torn  with  bullets. 
He  had  the  idea  of  advising  the  marshal  to  retreat 
on  the  village  of  Dubrowna,  where  there  was  a 
bridge  across  the  Dnieper.  Davoust  had  marched 
past  just  before,  and  had  blown  up  the  bridge 
after  him.  There  was  no  escape  except  to  venture 
on  the  thin  ice.  Ney  did  this  during  the  night. 
He  got  across  and  reached  Orscha  with  1,500  men. 
There  was,  however,  great  rejoicing  when  the 
hero  came  in  with  his  frozen  and  half-dead  men, 
and  they  could  rest  for  a  time  with  their  comrades. 
Napoleon,  whose  relations  to  Davoust  were  already 
strained,  was  so  unjust  as  to  support  those  who 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  239 

said  it  was  Davoust  who  had  abandoned  Ney, 
whereas  the  Prince  of  Eckmiihl  had  merely  obeyed 
the  Emperor's  own  orders. 

At  Orscha  there  were  at  the  most  25,000 
armed  men,  and  about  the  same  number  of 
stragglers ;  altogether  about  one-eighth  of  the 
grand  army  that  had  crossed  the  Niemen  in  June. 
Here  all  the  waggons  were  burned,  all  the 
Emperor's  papers,  and  two  complete  trains  of 
bridges.  The  news  from  Marshals  Victor  and 
Oudinot  was  disheartening.  Wittgenstein  from 
the  north,  and  Tschitschagow  from  the  south  were 
bound  to  meet  at  the  river  Beresina,  and  bring 
the  army  to  a  last  and  decisive  stand.  On  Novem- 
ber 22nd,  Napoleon  heard  that  his  brave  Polish 
General  Dombrowski,  one  of  his  comrades  in 
Egypt,  had  been  beaten  by  the  Russians  under 
Ojarowski  at  Borissow,  and  the  French  had  lost 
their  own  bridge  over  the  Beresina. 

The  Emperor  held  a  consultation  with  his  best 
generals  of  the  engineers.  These  were  Lariboisiere, 
Chasseloup,  Ebl6,  Haxo,  and  the  Swiss  General 
Jomini,  who  was  considered  a  great  tactician.  It 
was  impossible  to  cross  below  Borissow.  They 
would  have  to  go  further  north,  nearer  to  the 
source  of  the  river,  and  try  to  cross  there.  It 
seemed  impossible  to  all  of  them  to  throw  a  bridge 
across  a  river  like  the  Beresina  in  face  of  the  enemy. 
Then  a  fortunate  accident  occured  in  the  middle 
of  their  mishaps.  General  Corbineau,  a  brother 
of  the  one  who  fell  by  the  side  of  the  Emperor 
at  Eylau,  came  from  the  west,  from  the  right 


240  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

bank  of  the  river.  He  had  cut  through 
Wittgenstein's  lines  with  700  horse,  and 
reached  the  bank  of  the  river  just  at  the 
moment  when  a  Russian  peasant,  who  knew 
the  locality,  was  wading  across  it.  This  led 
to  the  discovery  of  the  ford  at  Studjanka,  and 
all  agreed  that  this  was  the  one  way  of  escaping 
capture  or  destruction. 

Tschitschakoff  was  deceived  for  a  long  time 
by  their  manoeuvres,  and  waited  for  the  crossing 
below  Borissow,  and  left  the  ford  at  Studjanka 
unguarded.  It  is  quite  inexplicable  how  the 
Russians,  who  knew  the  critical  nature  of  the 
passage,  and  were  so  numerous  in  the  district, 
did  not  manage  better.  Meantime,  General  Eble 
and  his  men  set  to  work  to  throw  two  bridges  over 
the  river.  When  Napoleon  had  the  bridge  trains 
burned,  he  had  the  foresight  to  save  a  few  waggons, 
the  tools,  metal- work,  and  coal.  With  the  help  of 
Chasseloup  he  and  his  clever  bridge-builders  saved 
the  remains  of  the  army  and  the  Emperor.  His 
work  has  rightly  become  as  famous  as  any  deed 
of  war.  The  river  was  eight  feet  deep  in  places, 
and  the  strong  current  was  filled  with  lumps  of 
ice.  He  had  to  use  balconies,  wooden  houses,  and 
anything  that  could  float,  and  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  work  the  officers  and  men  were  in 
the  water. 

While  they  were  building  it,  the  artillery 
bridge  went  to  pieces  three  times,  and  the  aged 
General  Eble  had  to  go  in  the  water  himself.  He 
was  praised  by  all  as  a  model  officer,  a  man  of 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  241 

fine  appearance,  as  well  as  fine  character.  They 
said  in  the  army  that  he  and  Larrey,  the  Emperor's 
physician,  could  ask  the  impossible  of  the  men, 
and  it  would  be  done.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
difficult  tasks  ever  attempted  to  make  bridges  in 
such  desperate  circumstances,  at  such  a  speed, 
for  a  half -lost  army  such  as  the  French  then  was. 
However,  the  troops  passed  over  in  good  order, 
as  soon  as  the  bridges  were  ready.  On  the 
western  bank  they  came  up  with  Victor  and 
Oudinot's  advanced  posts.  The  young  soldiers 
shuddered  as  they  gazed  on  the  worn  and  dispirited 
relics  of  the  grand  army.  If  the  stragglers  had 
tried  they  also  could  have  crossed  during  the 
night  of  the  26th  and  27th.  But  the  demoralisa- 
tion was  so  great  that  they  camped  round  the 
baggage  on  the  eastern  bank,  and  in  a  few  houses 
they  found  there. 

When  the  enemy  saw  the  crossing,  and 
gathered  round  from  all  sides,  there  was  frightful 
confusion  and  pressure  at  the  bridges,  and  a 
number  of  men  came  to  a  pitiful  end.  The  bridges 
were  to  be  burned  on  the  morning  of  November 
29th,  to  prevent  the  Russians  from  following. 
Eble  and  Victor  took  the  greatest  possible  pains 
to  induce  the  half-mad  stragglers  to  leave  the 
eastern  shore,  but  they  would  not.  At  half-past 
nine,  the  Russians  coming  on  at  a  great  pace, 
General  Eble  himself  fired  his  bridges.  The  poor 
wretches  now  saw  for  the  first  time  that  the 
position  was  serious,  but  it  was  too  late.  The 
Cossacks  were  upon  them.  They  killed  a  good 

Q 


242  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

many,  and  drove  the  rest  in  scattered  flocks  into 
icy  Russia,  where  they  died  a  fearful  death.  The 
fight  went  on  on  both  sides  of  the  river  during  the 
passage,  and  the  remains  of  the  French  artillery 
gave  their  last  reply  to  the  overwhelming  strength 
of  the  Russian  guns.  It  was  as  in  Tschaikowski's 
symphony,  when  the  last  notes  of  the  Marseillaise 
die  away,  and  there  is  only  the  pitiless  thrust, 
thrust,  thrust  of  the  sabre,  till  at  last  the  bells  of 
Russia  ring  out  clearly  over  the  bloody  plains. 

In  the  fight  on  the  eastern  bank,  which 
lasted  throughout  the  crossing,  Marshal  Victor, 
the  Duke  of  Belluno,  performed  a  masterpiece  of 
bravery  and  strategy,  for  which  Napoleon  requited 
him  very  badly,  by  blaming  him  for  the  destruction 
of  the  stragglers.  Only  one  part  of  Victor's  corps, 
which  was  under  General  Partouneaux's  command, 
was  lost  during  the  fight  and  taken  prisoner.  It 
was  the  only  body  of  French  troops  that  was 
taken  with  arms  in  their  hands  throughout  the 
whole  campaign. 

On  the  morning  of  the  28th,  Marshal  Oudinot, 
who  was  always  unlucky  in  this  respect,  was 
severely  wounded,  and  had  to  be  carried  from  the 
field.  Ney  took  over  his  command,  and  he  was 
joined  in  the  retreat  by  Lefebvre-Desnouettes— 
the  aged  Lefebvre,  Duke  of  Dantzig,  went  through 
the  whole  campaign — the  generals  of  division, 
Maison  and  Legrand,  and  the  cavalry-general 
Dumerc.  Maison  was  a  great  help  to  Ney  in  the 
retreat.  Legrand  was  one  of  the  great  infantry- 
generals  of  the  good  old  times.  He  had  been  at 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  243 

Fleury  and  Hohenlinden  and  in  all  the  later  battles. 
He  had  been  made  a  count  after  Tilsit.  Napoleon 
married  him  to  a  young  daughter  of  General 
Scherer ;  she  appreciated  her  elderly  hero,  and 
fired  him  on  to  fresh  deeds.  On  the  Beresina  it 
was  Legrand  that  first  reached  the  opposite  bank. 
He  was  seriously  wounded  there,  and  his  soldiers 
carried  him  for  a  long  time  on  the  retreat,  but 
he  died  on  the  way.  He  was  another  of  Napoleon's 
closest  comrades. 

There  were  many  other  good  names  on  the 
list  of  dead  and  wounded  officers  on  the  Beresina — 
Dombrowski,  Fournier,  Gerard,  Claparede,  and  the 
Pole  Zayonchek,  who  lost  a  leg.  After  the  battle 
the  army  made  its  way  in  the  direction  of  Smorgoni. 
They  knew  that  Maret,  Duke  of  Bassano,  had 
collected  great  stores  at  Wilna,  and  that  the 
Bavarian  General  Wrede  was  not  far  off,  and  was 
ready  to  come  to  their  assistance,  as  well  as  other 
generals  with  reserve  troops. 

On  December  3rd  no  less  than  fourteen 
messengers  came  in  from  Paris.  They  had  been 
riding  hither  and  thither  in  search  of  the  Emperor. 
For  twenty-one  days  Europe  had  heard  nothing 
of  the  grand  army.  The  Emperor  then  drew  up 
the  29th  bulletin,  dated  December  3rd,  1812.  He 
made  no  effort  to  conceal  the  whole  miserable 
condition  of  the  army  and  all  the  horrors  of  the 
retreat ;  and  he  concluded,  curiously  enough, 
with  an  assurance  that  '  the  Emperor  was  never 
in  better  health.'  Had  he  some  consciousness 
himself  that  he  had  not  been  well  on  the  campaign  ? 


244  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Had  he  heard  from  Fouche"  that  people  hinted 
that  in  Paris  ?  Did  he  think  it  would  be  more 
inspiring  if  people  heard  that  he  himself  was 
unaffected,  and  was  prepared  to  avenge  his  defeat  ? 
Whichever  it  was,  his  calculation  was  wrong. 
The  29th  bulletin,  and  particularly  its  closing 
words,  did  him  a  great  deal  of  harm  in  the  eyes 
of  the  people. 

General  Heudelet  came  from  the  direction  of 
the  Niemen  with  10,000  men,  and  General  Loison 
brought  the  same  amount  from  Wilna.  But  it 
seemed  as  if  these  apparently  vigorous  soldiers 
only  came  to  perish  in  the  frost  and  privations 
with  the  demoralised  troops  they  met.  At 
Smorgoni  the  Emperor  secretly  left  the  army  on 
December  5th,  and  travelled  westwards.  He 
took  with  him  Caulaincourt,  Duroc,  Mouton, 
and  Lefebvre  -  Desnouettes.  They  drove  the 
shortest  possible  way  in  simple  peasant  carts 
over  the  ice  and  snow.  On  the  way  he 
met  Maret,  and  with  him  inspected  the  large 
and  ample  stores  at  Wilna.  There  were  provisions 
of  all  kinds  there  for  100,000  men  for  forty  days. 
From  that  point  the  little  troop  passed  through 
Warschau  to  Dresden,  which  they  reached  on  the 
15th,  then  through  Leipsic  and  Mayence,  and  on 
December  19th,  during  the  night,  he  was  back  in 
the  Tuileries  and  held  the  little  King  of  Rome  in 
his  arms.  The  secret  journey  right  across  Europe 
had  been  quite  successful. 

That  the  army,  or  what  remained  of  it,  was 
bitter  about  the  Emperor  for  leaving  them  in 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  245 

their  sufferings  will  be  readily  understood.  It  is 
always  some  consolation — the  only  one — when  the 
man  who  is  responsible  for  the  mishap  remains  on 
the  wreck  to  the  end  like  a  good  comrade  ;  one 
will  forgive  him  much  for  the  sake  of  his  faith- 
fulness. But  Napoleon  was  not  a  good  comrade. 
Neither  in  Egypt  nor  Russia  did  he  think  of  any- 
thing but  himself  and  his  own  power.  He  said 
himself,  when  he  left  Smorgoni :  '  I  am  stronger 
when  I  speak  from  my  throne  in  the  Tuileries 
than  at  the  head  of  an  army  that  is  perishing 
with  the  cold.' 

This  sort  of  reasoning  was  enough  for 
him.  He  was  by  no  means  indifferent  about  his 
men.  Few  generals  before  him  had  done  so  much 
for  their  soldiers  in  the  field  and  at  home  in  the 
way  of  comfort  and  rewards.  But  to  him  an 
army  was  merely  a  power  that  he  could  use.  When 
a  thing  was  lost  and  destroyed  he  let  it  lie ;  it 
was  of  no  further  use.  No  one  knows  what  that 
cost  him,  but  he  could  not  act  otherwise. 

When  he  left  Smorgoni,  he  reckoned  on  the 
stores  at  Wilna,  and  they  were  certainly  there. 
Marshal  Macdonald  was  in  the  north  with  fresh 
troops,  and  in  the  south  were  his  Austrian  allies 
under  Schwartzenberg.  He  wanted  to  concentrate 
these  and  other  reinforcements  that  were  on  the 
way,  at  Wilna,  and  the  Niemen  was  to  be  the  line 
of  defence  against  the  enemy  advancing  from  the 
east.  Those  were  the  ideas  he  imparted  to 
Berthier.  It  is  not  impossible  that  this  would 
have  been  enough  for  him,  great  leader  as  he  was, 


246  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

to  convert  the  defeat  into  a  victory.  He  had 
been  in  difficulties  before,  and  had  never  lost 
belief  in  himself. 

But  now  the  greatest  danger  of  the  whole 
campaign  set  in,  the  intense  frost.  The  night 
after  his  departure  from  Smorgoni  the  temperature 
fell  to  sixty  degrees  below  zero,  and  thousands  of 
the  men  died  every  day.  Even  the  fresh  troops 
at  Wilna  suffered,  because  the  Duke  of  Bassano 
caused  them  to  march  on  Smorgoni,  to  meet  the 
Emperor  and  assist  the  army.  The  sudden  and 
fearful  cold  wrought  terrible  havoc  amongst  the 
young  men,  many  of  whom  were  Italians.  The 
generals  who  led  them  were  Heudelet,  and  the 
one-armed  Loison,  Colonel  Coutard,  a  relative  of 
Davoust,  and  Franchesi,  an  Italian.  In  the  course 
of  five  or  six  days  10,000  men  of  their  brigades 
were  frozen  to  death. 

According  to  the  Emperor's  orders,  Murat 
was  to  have  the  supreme  command,  because  he 
was  a  king.  But,  brave  as  he  was  in  battle,  he 
had  now  lost  all  spirit.  Berthier  was  sick  and 
apathetic.  Davoust  was  sombre  and  silent ;  he 
never  spoke  a  word  except  when  he  was  command- 
ing. He  was,  perhaps,  the  one  that  suffered  most 
at  the  sight  of  the  general  demoralisation,  the 
lapse  of  discipline,  the  distrust  of  the  Emperor, 
and  the  lack  of  co-operation  amongst  the  generals, 
and  when  he  looked  at  the  scattered  band  that 
remained  out  of  his  model  division.  It  was  Ney, 
the  incomparable  Ney,  that  took  everything  on 
his  shoulders.  It  is  not  easy  to  understand  how 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  247 

this  general  came  so  early  to  be  known  as  the 
bravest  of  the  brave.  They  were  all  brave. 
There  could  only  be  men  who  knew  no  fear 
about  a  leader  like  Napoleon.  However,  as 
some  of  them  had  a  special  reputation  for 
bravery,  like  Ney  and  Murat,  there  must  have 
been  something  in  it.  There  must  have  been 
something  more  than  ordinary  coolness  and 
contempt  of  death,  something  that  fired  the 
courage  of  others,  and  spurred  them  on  to  follow 
their  brave  leaders  to  death. 

No  man  could  have  gone  with  a  greater 
contempt  of  death,  year  in,  year  out,  from  battle 
to  battle,  than  Joachim  Murat,  and  no  one  pos- 
sessed in  a  higher  degree  the  gift  of  communicating 
his  own  courage  to  others.  When  he  swung 
himself  into  the  saddle — and  he  was  a  handsome 
man,  in  a  fine  suit  of  amarinth  velvet,  with 
enormously  long  white  ostrich  feathers,  and  arms 
and  harness  glittering  with  gold  and  precious 
stones — the  devil  was  let  loose  in  his  squadrons ; 
man  and  beast  dashed  after  him,  and  there  was 
nothing  that  could  stop  them.  Yet  it  was  found 
that  there  was  a  limit  to  this  kind  of  courage. 
King  Joachim  collapsed  when  the  supply  of  horses 
was  exhausted,  and  there  were  no  more  cavalrymen 
to  lead  with  jingling  harness  and  flapping  cloaks. 
Certainly,  he  was  just  as  fearless  as  ever ;  cowar- 
dice was  impossible  for  him  ;  but  his  courage  had 
lost  its  glamour,  when  he  could  no  longer  command, 
but  had  to  save  an  army  that  was  shrunken  out 
of  all  proportion.  His  sense  of  duty  and  manly 


248  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

courage  sank  behind  other  sensations.  He  must 
have  thought  of  his  beautiful  Naples  and  his 
royal  crown,  which  he  must  have  been  constantly 
feeling  to  see  if  it  was  quite  secure.  It  seemed 
to  him  to  be  getting  loose,  and  he  lost  his  courage 
and  his  delight  in  chasing  the  Cossacks  every 
morning. 

Ney  showed  that  he  possessed  the  tenacious 
courage  of  the  infantryman.  Amongst  the  foot 
there  are  no  fine  horses  or  dashing  attacks,  but 
there  is  an  unflinching  courage  in  sustaining  the 
daily  struggle,  a  determination  to  keep  on  one's 
feet,  and  press  onward  to  the  appointed  goal,  or 
to  retreat  with  order.  Lannes  had  been  of  much 
the  same  character  ;  but  the  Duke  of  Moiitebello 
was  much  more  gifted  in  every  respect  than  the 
poor  Prince  of  Moskwa,  who  had  nothing  but 
his  courage. 

At  Wilna  things  went  much  as  they  had  done 
at  Smolensk.  The  famished  soldiers  flung  them- 
selves on  the  stores,  plundered  and  fought  for 
food  and  drink  in  the  most  frightful  disorder. 
There  was  now  not  a  single  corps  with  troops 
that  had  been  under  the  colours.  When  Marshal 
Victor,  whose  corps  was  supposed  to  form  the 
advanced  guard,  reached  the  gates  of  Wilna,  he 
had  not  a  single  soldier  with  him.  Of  the  newly- 
arrived  division  of  Loison  there  were  hardly 
3,000  men  left,  and  there  were  about  the  same 
number  of  the  old  Guard.  On  December  9th, 
Kutusow's  first  divisions  came  up  with  the  French 
while  they  were  plundering  Wilna.  Ney  and  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  249 

aged  Duke  of  Dantzig  ran  through  the  town,  and 
gathered  men  for  the  defence.  Murat  made  no 
attempt  to  defend  the  town ;  he  fled  by  night 
to  Kowno. 

The  Bavarian  General  Wrede  begged  Marshal 
Ney  to  cut  his  way  out  of  the  town  with  the  60 
horsemen  that  were  still  at  his  disposal.  Ney 
pointed  to  the  swarms  of  fugitives  that  filled  the 
streets,  and  said  they  must  be  protected  and  got 
away  during  the  night.  He  swore  that  all  the 
Cossacks  in  the  world  would  not  drive  him  and 
his  fifty  grenadiers  out,  before  eight  o'clock  the 
next  morning,  from  the  house  which  they  had 
fortified,  and  from  which  they  commanded  the 
gate  and  kept  off  the  Russians.  Thousands  of 
wounded  men  were  left  lying  in  the  streets  of 
Wilna,  to  be  dispatched  by  the  Cossacks.  There 
were  also  crowds  of  stragglers  who  desperately 
preferred  to  remain  in  the  houses  rather  than 
venture  into  a  temperature  of  sixty  degrees  below 
freezing  point. 

A  mile  from  Wilna  the  whole  miserable 
procession  was  held  up  by  an  insignificant  hill. 
The  road  was  hard  and  slippery  ;  men  and  horses 
slipped  and  fell,  and  guns  and  waggons  rolled 
backward.  At  this  point  a  number  of  Russian 
flags  and  trophies  and  a  war-chest  containing 
10,000,000  francs  in  gold  were  lost.  The  marshal 
began  to  distribute  the  money  amongst  the  Guard 
—and  every  soldier  that  reached  Paris  handed  it 
back  to  the  treasury — but  as  the  Cossacks  came 
on  every  vestige  of  order  was  lost  and  there  was 


250  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

a  general  pillage,  which  was  completed  by  the 
Cossacks  when  they  had  driven  the  French  away. 

On  December  12th  the  fugitives  poured  into 
Kowno,  where  the  same  scenes  were  witnessed  as 
at  Smolensk  and  Wilna,  only  worse  and  wilder. 
The  soldiers  fell  on  the  food  like  wild  animals, 
and  men  drank  themselves  to  death  with  brandy. 
Murat  held  a  council  of  war,  and  all  but  Ney  and 
Davoust  (who  said  nothing)  vented  their  anger 
against  the  Emperor.  Ney  offered  to  defend 
Kowno  until  the  fugitives  had  time  to  cross  the 
Niemen  and  reach  Konigsberg  or  Macdonald's 
winter  quarters,  which  were  not  far  off.  Positions 
were  marked  out  for  the  various  corps,  and  then 
all  the  generals  made  for  Konigsberg  and  left 
Ney  behind. 

There  was  now  not  even  a  shadow  left  of 
the  grand  army.  Ney  had  only  a  couple  of 
adjutants  with  him  when  he  arrived  at  Kowno. 
He  found  400  men  under  General  Marchand  and 
300  Germans.  The  Russians  were  close  behind 
him,  and  endeavoured  to  force  an  entrance  by 
the  gate  on  the  Wilna  road.  Ney  hurried  up  to 
it,  but  the  three  or  four  guns  he  found  were  spiked, 
and  the  artillerymen  had  fled.  Even  the  Germans 
ran  away,  and  the  officer  who  led  them  shot 
himself  in  despair.  But  Ney  would  not  yield. 
He  was  determined  to  defend  Kowno  until  the 
following  day.  He  took  a  rifle  himself  and  shot 
away  like  a  grenadier  ;  a  number  of  high  officers 
did  the  same.  General  Gerard,  who  bore  himself 
with  honour  at  Ney's  side  during  these  last  spasms 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  251 

of  the  march,  had  gathered  thirty  men,  and  with 
these  they  defended  the  Wilna  gate,  and  kept  off 
the  whole  Russian  army.  The  adjutant  Rumigni 
had  succeeded  in  collecting  another  small  band 
of  men  of  the  29th  regiment,  and  when  he  came 
on  with  them  the  Marshal  felt  that  Kowno  was 
saved.  He  embraced  the  officer  in  his  joy. 
Marchand  was  sent  with  all  speed  to  the  one 
bridge  across  the  Niemen  on  which  their  hopes 
rested,  and  which  had  been  attacked  by  the 
enemy ;  Ney  fought  the  whole  day  and  kept  his 
position  till  nightfall.  During  the  night  they 
escaped  from  Kowno  and  reached  the  river,  where 
Marchand  had  retaken  the  bridge.  It  was  quite 
intact,  and  so  they  crossed  the  Niemen  and  got 
safely  out  of  Russia.  They  were  500  men  in  all. 

The  Cossacks  did  not  leave  them  as  yet.  At 
one  point,  where  the  road  mounted  a  little,  they 
came  to  a  standstill  once  more,  and  lost  all  that 
they  had  kept  together.  The  Cossacks  scattered 
the  four  or  five  hundred  men  in  the  darkness,  and 
Ney  and  Gerard  found  only  a  few  officers  with 
them.  General  Marchand  escaped  by  a  different 
route.  In  the  end  they  reached  Konigsberg. 
From  this  point  there  was  no  part  of  the  army 
under  arms.  They  continued  the  retreat  in  small 
bands,  flying  over  the  plains  of  Poland,  and  were 
pursued  for  some  miles  beyond  the  Niemen  by 
the  Cossacks.  Then  the  Russian  cavalry  turned 
back,  and  the  Tsar's  army,  which  had  lost  two- 
thirds  of  its  strength,  came  to  a  halt  at  last. 


252  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

The  old  Guard,  which  had  been  least  hardly 
used — partly  at  the  cost  of  the  other  troops— 
during  the  whole  campaign,  and  which  had 
originally  been  7,000  strong,  was  represented  only 
by  500  men  at  Konigsberg.  This  was  the  sole 
armed  remnant.  The  young  Guard  had  been 
completely  broken,  and  all  the  other  corps  had 
disappeared.  There  were  at  Konigsberg  10,000 
sick  and  wounded,  and  an  epidemic  broke  out 
amongst  them,  which  the  physicians  of  the  time 
called  '  frost  fever.'  The  leading  physician  him- 
self, the  heroic  Larrey,  caught  it  and  died ;  so 
did  Generals  Lariboisiere  and  Eble.  Of  their  100 
picked  bridge-builders  there  were  not  more  than 
twelve  left  after  the  fights  on  the  Beresina. 

In  all,  300,000  soldiers  perished  during 
Napoleon's  campaign  in  Russia,  besides  a  number  of 
women  and  civilians  that  has  never  been  deter- 
mined. The  generals  gathered  at  Konigsberg  with- 
out troops.  There  was  general  indignation  against 
the  Emperor,  but  most  of  them  were  for  a  long 
time  half  stupified  with  their  misfortunes  and 
exertions. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  the  foreign  auxi- 
liaries began  to  fall  off,  and  they  continued  to  do 
so  in  the  new  year.  Officers  and  men  had  indeed 
taken  a  kind  of  oath  to  Napoleon  and  the  French 
colours,  and  it  was  a  pitiful  spectacle  for  the 
German  troops  in  1813  to  pass  over  to  their  own 
countrymen  in  the  middle  of  the  fight,  and  begin 
to  fire  on  the  ranks  they  had  just  left.  Yet 
according  to  our  ideas  of  nationality,  they  were 
bound  to  resent  the  unnatural  pressure,  to  join 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  253 

with  their  compatriots  and  shake  off  the  unbear- 
able yoke  that  Napoleon  had  so  long  laid  on 
Europe.  A  secret  armistice  had  been  concluded 
between  the  Russian  General  Diebitsch  and  the 
Prussian  General  York,  whose  men  formed  the 
main  body  of  Macdonald's  corps.  On  December 
31st,  General  York  marched  away  with  his 
regiments,  and  Marshal  Macdonald  was  no  longer 
able  to  keep  the  Russians  in  check.  He  had  to 
retreat  with  the  7,000  Poles  under  Grandjean 
that  were  left  in  his  corps.  It  gradually  became 
impossible  to  hold  the  Niemen  as  a  line  of  defence, 
and  soon  afterwards  the  Weichsel  also  had  to 
be  abandoned.  Konigsberg  was  evacuated ;  it 
was  Ney  again  who  had  to  cover  the  retreat  with 
the  remains  of  Heudelet  and  Loison's  divisions. 
All  of  them  suffered  from  the  cold,  and  provisions 
had  to  be  bought  at  a  high  price  or  taken  by 
force.  The  next  place  of  refuge  was  Dantzig, 
where  General  Rapp  was  governor.  He  shut 
himself  up  in  the  town,  and  prepared  to  defend 
it.  Napoleon  had  destined  this  position  for  Rapp 
long  before.  During  one  of  the  battles  in  Russia 
the  Emperor  had  given  the  general  an  order  to 
attack,  but  suddenly  changed  his  mind  and  sent 
another  cavalry-general.  They  heard  him  mutter 
at  the  time  :  '  I  need  Rapp  at  Dantzig.' 

Murat's  headquarters  were  first  at  Thorn, 
and  then  in  Poland.  On  January  16th,  1813,  he 
could  endure  it  no  longer.  He  abandoned  the 
army  and  the  posts  that  the  Emperor  had  entrusted 
to  him,  and  fled  to  Naples.  The  chief  command 
now  fell  to  Eugene,  the  Viceroy  of  Italy,  and  he 


254  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

exercised  it  with  his  customary  firmness.  He 
had  led  his  men  throughout  the  campaign  with 
coolness  and  bravery,  and  it  was  he  who  put  a 
stop  to  the  retreat.  He  remained  for  a  month 
at  Posen,  restored  order  and  discipline,  let  his  men 
rest,  and  gave  them  time  to  gather  under  the 
colours  once  more.  On  February  21st  he  withdrew 
to  Berlin,  after  burning  the  bridges  at  Krossen 
and  Frankfort  on  the  Oder. 

Prince  Schwartzenberg  had  been  making  a 
fool  of  Napoleon  the  whole  time  and  was  in  collusion 
with  the  Russians.  He  now  openly  seceded  from 
the  French.  General  Grenier  had  been  in  Italy 
in  1811,  and  had  been  directed  by  Napoleon  at 
that  time  to  keep  an  eye  on  Murat,  whose  weakness 
of  character  was  well  known  to  the  Emperor. 
Now,  in  the  early  days  of  1813,  Grenier  brought 
his  corps  to  Berlin,  and  gave  Augereau  a  reinforce- 
ment of  28,000  men.  To  these  we  must  add 
25,000  men  under  Rapp  at  Dantzig,  and  the 
garrisons  of  a  few  fortresses  on  the  Weichsel  and 
at  Warschau.  These  were  the  only  fighting  forces 
left  to  Napoleon  in  that  part  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER    VII 

There  was  a  great  difference  in  appearance 
between  the  army  that  marched  singing  into  Italy 
— half  in  their  old  Republican  rags,  half  in 
Bonaparte's  new  uniforms — and  the  model  soldiers, 
equipped  down  to  the  smallest  detail,  that  were 
called  out  to  face  the  army  of  Frederick  the  Great 
in  1806.  There  was  a  difference  again  between 
the  latter  and  the  grande  arme'e  that  had  marched 
into  Russia.  This  was  certainly  the  finest  army 
that  has  ever  been  seen.  Its  whole  equipment 
and  material  was  new  and  modern,  and  the 
number  of  foreign  troops  helped  to  give  it  the 
appearance  of  a  comprehensive  power,  as  it  defiled 
over  the  plains  of  Poland.  Its  march  was  like 
a  colossal  parade. 

It  has  been  regarded  as  a  proof  of  Napoleon's 
infatuated  ambition  that  he  made  such  imperfect 
preparation  for  this  campaign,  and  had  so  little 
knowledge  of  the  geography  and  climatic  con- 
ditions of  the  country.  But  it  was  rather  the 
great  blunder  of  his  life  that  led  him  to  do  this  ; 
namely,  the  notion  that  there  was  a  place  for  him 


256  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

and  his  family  amongst  the  legitimate  princes  of 
Europe.  After  what  he  had  experienced  and 
attained  he  saw  no  impossibility  in  that.  He 
knew  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  memory  in 
the  false  intercourse  of  courts.  His  army  must 
be  so  powerful  and  his  attack  so  decisive  that  the 
Tsar  must  be  compelled  out  of  fear  to  reach  out 
his  hand.  But  it  is  possible  that  Napoleon  and 
his  officers  did  not  on  this  occasion  devote  the 
same  care  to  minute  details  that  they  had  done  at 
the  commencement  of  other  campaigns. 

All  the  high  officers  went  more  or  less  reluc- 
tantly. The  soldiers  were  too  confident  in  the 
invincibility  of  their  idol.  Hence  they  had  not 
heeded  all  the  warnings  and  suggestions  before 
beginning  the  Russian  war.  The  rough  ways 
had  not  been  smoothed  by  spies  and  bribes.  The 
Emperor  himself  and  his  whole  machinery  were 
a  little  worn.  There  was  not  the  absolute  relia- 
bility in  small  details  of  the  earlier  wars.  At 
Austerlitz  in  1805,  he  had  said  of  General  Ordener, 
the  officer  who  arrested  the  Duke  of  Enghien : 
*  Ordener  is  worn  out.  We  need  only  a  short 
time  for  the  war.  I  myself  can  only  go  on  for 
five  or  six  years  more,  and  then  I  must  cease.' 
It  was  just  seven  years  afterwards  that  he  was 
ill  and  fatigued  at  Borodino. 

Thus  the  Russian  campaign  differed  from  all 
the  others  in  many  points  besides  its  failure.  From 
the  first  march  one  missed  the  wonderful  order 
and  precision  that  had  been  inseparable  from  him 
ever  since  the  morning  in  1796  when  all  the  corps 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  257 

of  the  republican  army  marched  together  in 
perfect  unison  beside  the  sun-lit  Bormida.  In 
1812  orders  were  misunderstood  from  the  outset. 
Distances  were  miscalculated  and  time  wasted ; 
and  when  there  was  a  victory — as  there  still  was 
sometimes — there  were  no  men  to  follow  up  the 
advantage  as  in  the  old  days.  The  whole 
plan  of  the  campaign  was  political  rather  than 
strategical.  The  Emperor  thought  less  of  beating 
the  Russians  than  of  winning  the  Tsar.  Hence 
there  was  something  of  a  parade  in  the  great 
gathering  of  princes  at  Dresden,  the  distribution 
of  the  enormous  fighting  forces,  and  the  advance 
on  the  Niemen.  It  was  all  done  with  unusual 
slowness,  and  before  the  eyes  of  Russia,  in  order 
to  give  the  Tsar  time  to  reach  out  a  friendly 
hand. 

Napoleon  did  not  understand  what  any  one 
of  us  who  have  come  into  the  world  a  hundred 
years  afterwards  could  have  told  him.  He 
imagined  that  the  descendants  of  the  Corsican 
bandit  could  meet  and  exchange  kisses  with  the 
Hapsburgs,  the  Hohenzollerns,  and  the  Romanows, 
and  that  the  telegraph  would  spread  it  over 
Europe.  Assuredly,  he  came  very  near  it.  In 
1806,  when  he  was  returning  from  Tilsit  to  Paris, 
he  was  met  at  Marienwerder  by  an  adjutant  of 
the  King  of  Saxony  with  a  letter  of  this  tenour : 
'  The  Emperor  Francis  seeks  my  daughter  Augusta. 
What  shall  I  do  ?'  Napoleon  went  to  Dresden, 
and  prevented  the  match.  '  And  I  was  utterly 
wrong,'  he  said  afterwards  at  St.  Helena.  *  I  was 


258  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

afraid  that  a  connection  with  the  Emperor  Francis 
would  alienate  the  King  of  Saxony  from  me, 
whereas  Augusta  would  have  won  the  Emperor 
for  me — and  then  I  would  not  be  here  !  ' 

He  had  come  so  close  to  them  that  they 
asked  his  advice  on  such  intimate  points.  A  few 
years  afterwards  the  Emperor  Francis  gave  him 
his  daughter  in  marriage,  yet  Napoleon  did  not 
understand  until  all  was  lost  what  a  gulf  there 
was  between  him  and  them.  It  is  almost  painful 
to  find  Napoleon  complaining  to  Prince  Metternich 
on  August  25th,  1805,  that  the  Emperor  and  the 
new  Empress  of  Austria  never  ask  the  French 
ambassador  at  Vienna  about  Napoleon's  health 
and  such  things.  '  They  know  very  well,'  he  said, 
'  that  I  myself  do  not  ask  you  such  questions  to 
learn  what  I  already  know.  No,  it  is  done  for 
the  world  to  know  that  the  relations  between  us 
are  those  of  two  sovereigns.  Don't  you  see  what 
a  different  footing  I  am  on  with  the  Emperor 
Alexander  ?  We  send  each  other  presents,  not 
because  they  have  any  importance  in  themselves, 
but  because  they  keep  up  our  connexion.  I  should 
have  sent  your  Empress  a  wedding  present,  but 
she  has  never  even  mentioned  my  name.  There 
has  not  been  the  slightest  notice  taken  of  me  on 
your  side  !  My  ambassador  is  not  treated  with 
as  much  consideration  as  the  envoys  of  Bavaria 
or  Wiirtemberg,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Russian. 
These  little  matters  are  of  great  importance.' 

'  I  took  the  thing  humorously,'  Metternich 
writes,  '  and  answered  :    "  Sire,  I  will  at  once  see 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  259 

that  some  valuable  objects  in  porcelain  are  sent 
from  Vienna,  if  it  will  serve  to  strengthen  the 
good  relations  between  us." 

In  the  year  1813,  before  the  Saxon  campaign, 
Napoleon  said :  '  The  war  I  am  now  entering 
upon  is  a  political  one.  I  would  willingly  have 
spared  Russia  all  the  trouble  it  has  brought  on 
itself.  If  I  liked,  I  could  have  stirred  up  the 
mass  of  the  people  against  the  Tsar  by  proclaiming 
the  emancipation  of  the  serfs.  But  I  avoided  this 
weapon,  as  it  would  have  brought  misery  to 
countless  families  and  have  caused  endless  mas- 
sacres.' And,  finally,  at  St.  Helena,  the  Emperor 
once  said  in  conversation  :  '  People  may  explain 
it  as  they  like,  but  I  swear  that  I  had  no  direct 
or  personal  hatred  of  any  of  the  princes  I  fought 
against.  For  me  the  whole  thing  was  a  political 
struggle — so  free,  so  light,  I  might  even  say,  so 
benevolent  was  my  disposition.  It  is  true  that 
Louis  XVIII  and  the  other  princes  had  outlawed 
me,  and  put  a  price  on  my  head.  In  my  opinion 
that  was  merely  diplomatic  rhetoric.' 

All  this  is  very  naive,  but  the  fault  is  not 
that  Napoleon  over-estimated  the  importance  for 
himself  and  his  descendants  of  penetrating  the 
royal  circle.  He  was  quite  right.  In  those  days 
and  in  ours  the  power  is  with  the  princes,  the  fate 
of  the  nations  is  in  the  hands  of  a  few  old  families. 
When  he  thought  he  had  any  chance  of  penetrating 
this  circle,  he,  having  come  through  the  fires  of 
the  Revolution,  was  more  convinced  of  this  than 
we  who  are  so  far  removed  from  the  great  reckoning 


260  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

with  kings,  and  who  have  so  far  been  cooled  by  a 
century  of  reaction  as  to  entertain  once  more  the 
old  foUy  that  it  needs  royal  blood  to  lead  States  ; 
just  as  we  thought  when  we  were  boys  at  school 
that  there  must  be  cat's  blood  in  real  licorice. 

After  his  return  to  Paris  the  Emperor  resumed 
his  normal  life  as  the  indefatigable  head  of  the 
State.  He  maintained  an  icy  calmness,  to  show 
that  he  was  a  man  lifted  above  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  fate.  But  he  saw  in  every  face  the  effect  of 
the  defeat  and  of  the  29th  bulletin,  in  which  he 
had  confessed  the  whole  misery  so  openly.  He 
still  made  no  effort  to  mince  matters  with  phrases 
or  subterfuges ;  but  he  threw  himself  with 
exaggerated  zeal  into  the  Malet  affair.  With 
great  ostentation  he  had  the  Prefect  of  the  Seine, 
Frochot,  arrested,  and  an  inquiry  opened.  He 
certainly  did  this  in  part  to  divert  the  attention 
of  the  Parisians  from  his  unfortunate  campaign, 
but  also  because  he  saw  with  concern  and  bitter- 
ness from  the  police-information  how  many  of  his 
faithful  servants  had  been  ready  to  take  part  in 
a  revolution  at  the  mere  rumour  of  his  death,  and 
not  one  of  them  had  thought  of  running  to  the 
assistance  of  the  Empress  and  the  heir  to  the 
throne. 

Then  he  threw  himself  with  unprecedented 
energy  into  the  work  of  raising  fresh  levies.  He 
filled  up  the  attenuated  regiments,  and  brought 
troops  from  all  the  camps  in  Europe.  If  he  had 
not  such  a  number  of  his  best  soldiers  engaged  in 
the  Spanish  Peninsula,  he  would  have  had  500,000 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  261 

at  his  disposal  once  more.  Meantime  he  wanted 
fresh  levies  in  the  four  last  age-classes  up  to  1814 
— a  hundred  thousand  men  altogether.  It  was  all 
given  willingly.  Every  man  deemed  it  a  point 
of  honour  to  maintain  the  honour  of  France  and 
its  twenty  years'  supremacy  in  face  of  this  first 
blow  at  their  invincible  leader.  Yet  there  was 
something  wanting.  The  nation  was  not  called 
out  in  the  name  of  liberty ;  the  Emperor  would 
not  venture  to  put  the  safety  of  France  in  the 
hands  of  the  people.  He  was  determined  to  be 
as  before — the  Emperor  and  his  army. 

It  was  different  in  Prussia  and  Germany. 
There  it  was  the  people's  business  to  throw  off 
the  French  yoke.  Whatever  concern  the  govern- 
ments had  in  regard  to  the  people,  they  had  to 
let  the  great  beast  loose  for  a  time,  intending  to 
chain  it  up  all  the  more  securely  when  the  danger 
was  over.  The  whole  suppressed  youth  of  Ger- 
many broke  out  into  songs  of  fatherland  and 
freedom.  While  the  old  diplomatists  lent  their 
ears,  and  mixed  their  fine  drinks,  vast  crowds  of 
German  youths  rushed  to  the  colours,  ready  to 
die  for  the  freedom  that  bore  in  sight.  That 
there  would  be  more  fighting,  they  all  knew.  That 
Napoleon  could  not  leave  his  half-shattered  empire 
exposed  on  the  east  was  as  clear  as  that  the  other 
princes  were  his  enemies,  and  would  be  until  he 
was  destroyed.  At  the  bottom,  therefore,  not 
much  importance  was  attached  to  the  amenities 
of  diplomatists,  or  to  what  Metternich  said  to 
Napoleon.  They  knew  that  he  knew  more  than 


262  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

all  of  them  together.  It  must  be  war  ;  and  war 
it  was — for  three  more  years,  and  worse  than 
ever. 

His  destiny  fell  from  stage  to  stage  after  the 
Russian  campaign  as  fatally  as  a  vast  waterfall, 
and  with  almost  equal  grandeur.  All  his  enemies 
gathered  like  a  storm  in  the  east.  Far  away,  in 
the  extreme  west  General  Moreau  began  to  stir. 
He  had  lived  in  peace  on  his  estate  at  Delaware 
since  the  great  conspiracy  of  1804.  But  as  soon 
as  he  heard  of  the  issue  of  the  Russian  campaign, 
he  left  America  and  came  to  Europe.  All  his 
ambitious  dreams  were  revived.  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte was  now  ripe  for  the  fall,  and  it  was  time 
for  Moreau  to  take  his  place.  After  an  interview 
with  the  other  traitor,  Bernadotte,  at  Goteborg, 
Moreau,  the  great  general  of  the  glorious  republican 
wars,  the  victor  of  Hohenlinden,  went  over  to  the 
enemies  of  France  in  the  moment  of  danger  like 
a  common  deserter.  He  went  to  Prague,  and  was 
greeted  by  the  Allies  there  with  jubilation.  They 
gave  him  a  kind  of  supreme  command,  together 
with  Prince  Schwartzenberg,  over  the  combined 
armies,  when  things  were  sufficiently  advanced 
for  Austria  to  throw  off  the  mask  altogether. 

Bernadotte  also  had  allowed  himself  to  be 
bought  by  the  most  shameless  intrigues  to  take 
his  place  amongst  the  enemies  of  his  country,  in 
hostility  to  the  man  to  whom  he  owed  everything. 

After  settling  the  regency  on  Marie  Louise, 
which  he  did  with  a  certain  amount  of  relief,  the 
Emperor  left  Paris  on  April  15th,  1813,  at  one  in 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  263 

the  morning,  and  took  the  road  to  Mayence. 
Never  did  he  astonish  the  world  and  his  enemies 
so  much  as  then,  when  he  deployed  in  the  vicinity 
of  Jena,  where  he  had  conquered  six  years  before, 
the  new  fighting  forces  he  had  conjured  up  out 
of  the  earth.  The  Allies,  who  were  well  aware 
that  there  were  between  two  and  three  hundred 
thousand  of  his  old  soldiers  in  Spain,  had  expected 
to  see  no  more  than  the  attenuated  remains  of 
the  Russian  disaster.  They  found  themselves 
instead  facing  the  old  invincible  name  and  the 
familiar  solid  columns  of  the  best  infantry  in  the 
world.  Ney,  Oudinot,  Eugene,  and  the  other 
survivors  from  Russia  were  now  augmented  by 
Marmont,  Macdonald,  Kellermann,  and  Bertrand. 
The  cavalry  was  poor  ;  and  on  looking  closely 
one  would  find  a  disquieting  amount  of  raw 
recruits  in  the  army.  Yet  it  was  precisely  these 
who  brought  off  the  remarkable  victory  at  Liitzen, 
with  which  the  war  of  1813  opened. 

On  the  day  before  the  battle  they  met  with 
a  great  misfortune.  Marshal  Bessieres  was  killed 
by  a  cannon-ball  during  a  slight  skirmish  at  rather 
long  range.  It  was  a  painful  blow  to  Napoleon 
and  all  his  staff,  and  a  great  loss  to  the  army, 
especially  the  cavalry,  to  which  the  marshal  had 
always  devoted  special  care,  and  which  he  had 
led  with  such  distinction.  The  Duke  of  Istria  was 
a  brave  and  honourable  soldier,  but  singular  in 
being  one  of  the  very  few  in  the  army  who  con- 
tinued to  appear  with  powdered  wig,  tail,  and 
curls  about  his  ears. 


264  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS] 

The  Emperor  had  made  himself  personally 
acquainted  with  the  new  troops  before  the  great 
battle.  He  directed  Marshals  Ney,  Oudinot,  and 
Marmont,  and  the  Viceroy  Eugene  to  draw  up 
in  such  a  way  that  he  could  pass  continuously 
along  them.  He  rode  slowly  down  the  long  lines, 
stopped  here  and  there  to  say  a  friendly  word, 
spoke  to  the  officers  or  to  some  old  non-commis- 
sioned officer  that  he  knew,  and  all  the  while  ran 
his  eye  over  the  young  men  in  the  characteristic 
way  that  made  each  one  feel  he  had  been  indivi- 
dually noticed.  They  all,  old  and  young,  had 
time  to  see  him,  and  he  brought  them  all  together 
in  a  common  confidence  of  victory.  He  wanted 
to  begin  with  a  striking  victory,  that  would  daunt 
his  enemies  and  open  the  way  to  Dresden.  From 
there  he  proposed  to  carry  the  war  into  Schleswig 
and  toward  the  frontier  of  Bohemia. 

The  Emperor  had  left  Liitzen  with  Ney's 
army-corps  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  of 
May  2nd,  and  he  had  just  dismounted  to  look 
over  some  maps  with  the  marshal,  when  they 
heard  a  strong  cannonade  in  their  rear,  from  the 
quarter  where  Ney's  troops  had  spent  the  night. 
They  could  tell  at  once  that  it  must  be  Macdonald 
who  was  engaged  with  the  enemy.  In  a  moment 
the  Emperor  entirely  changed  his  dispositions, 
and  sent  adjutants  to  all  the  generals  with  an 
order  to  march  straight  across  the  country  towards 
the  thunder  of  Macdonald's  guns.  It  took  three 
hours  to  execute  this  manoeuvre,  and  so  those  who 
first  reached  the  field  fought  for  some  hours 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  265 

against  an  overwhelming  force.  However,  the 
artillery  of  the  various  corps  gradually  came  into 
action,  and  when  the  divisions  of  Bonnet,  Morand, 
Compans,  and  Bertrand  appeared  on  the  field, 
the  battle  was  already  won  at  all  points.  The 
Emperor  was  under  fire  the  whole  day  long. 

General  Mouton,  Count  of  Lobau,  led  the 
16th  battalion  of  the  young  Guard  in  a  fearful 
struggle  round  the  village  of  Kaja.  When  the 
young  men  were  nearly  overpowered  by  the  heavy 
pressure,  the  old  generals  had  only  to  say  a  word 
and  they  stood  like  walls.  If  they  heard  the 
Emperor's  own  voice  above  the  din,  they  broke 
into  the  cry  of  '  Long  live  the  Emperor,5  and 
swept  on  with  their  bayonets  like  a  storm.  But 
it  was  a  lamentable  spectacle  to  see  the  fine  young 
men  on  both  sides,  slim  French  youths,  and  pale 
German  students  with  long  hair,  falling  upon 
each  other  like  wild  beasts.  When  the  sun  went 
down  there  were  25,000  men  lying  on  the  field, 
and  the  plain  was  lit  by  the  flames  of  four  large 
villages. 

It  was  with  great  satisfaction  that  Napoleon 
redacted  the  bulletin  recording  his  incredible 
victory.  He  had  beaten  with  infantry-divisions 
full  of  raw  recruits,  two  combined  armies  of 
veteran  soldiers,  the  Russians  and  Prussians,  with 
25,000  of  the  best  cavalry  in  Europe  and  an 
enormous  artillery.  No  prisoners  were  made  after 
the  battle,  as  the  French  cavalry  was  still  weak. 
But  the  moral  effect  of  it  was  incalculable.  The 
Emperor  Napoleon  was  himself  again.  The 


266  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

confidence  of  his  generals  was  restored.  The 
disaster  in  Russia  fell  away  like  a  nightmare  from 
which  they  had  at  length  awakened.  The  army, 
nay,  the  whole  of  France,  returned  to  its  firm 
belief  in  Napoleon's  invincibility. 

The  chief  feeling  amongst  the  Allies  was  one 
of  disillusion,  and  their  armies  retreated  on 
Dresden.  At  their  head  rode  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  and  the  King  of  Prussia — just  as  before  ; 
also  Generals  Barclay  de  Tolly,  Wittgenstein,  Milo- 
radowitsch,  Bliicher,  and  Kleist,  all  with  their 
tails  between  their  legs — just  as  before.  Napoleon 
soon  drove  them  out  of  Dresden,  and  rested  there 
for  a  week.  The  aged  King  of  Saxony  was  not 
at  home.  Under  pressure  from  Austria  he  had 
gone  to  Prague,  and  he  was  now  strongly  influenced 
by  the  other  German  princes.  But  Napoleon 
invited  him  to  return,  and  on  the  12th  of  May 
Friedrich  August  was  back  in  his  capital.  The 
Emperor  rode  out  from  Dresden  to  meet  him, 
and  received  him  with  great  ceremony  amidst  his 
brilliant  Guard.  The  old  friendship  was  renewed, 
and  Saxony  remained  a  faithful  ally  of  his  to 
the  end — Saxony  and  steadfast  Denmark.  The 
attitude  of  Austria  became  more  and  more 
ambiguous  ;  that  is  to  say,  all  their  circumlocution 
could  not  conceal  the  fact  that  Austria  was 
prepared  to  join  the  Allies  as  soon  as  the  moment 
arrived. 

During  the  eight  days  that  he  spent  at 
Dresden  the  Emperor  received  from  the  King  of 
Saxony  some  cavalry,  which  he  badly  needed. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  267 

4  If  it  were  a  month  later,'  he  said,  *  and  I  had  more 
cavalry,  it  would  be  a  splendid  opportunity  to 
close  the  whole  affair  with  arms  in  our  hands, 
and  I  would  certainly  not  grant  them  an  armistice. 
They  do  not  know  what  they  are  in  for.'  He  was 
alluding  to  Marshal  Ney's  march  on  Bautzen. 
At  Bautzen  and  Wurschen  again  the  French  army 
won  a  brilliant  and  bloody  victory  over  the  Allies 
on  May  20th  and  21st.  The  next  day  it  was  on 
the  march  to  Schleswig,  driving  the  allied  troops 
before  it.  The  French  pressed  on  along  three 
routes.  Marshal  Victor  and  General  Sebastian! 
were  on  the  left  wing ;  Macdonald,  Marmont, 
and  Bertrand  followed  Wittgenstein  along  the 
road  to  Schweidnitz  ;  Marshal  Ney  advanced  along 
the  road  to  Breslau. 

The  Emperor  himself  joined  in  the  pursuit 
with  the  cavalry  of  the  Guard,  Latour-Maubourg's 
dragoons,  and  some  infantry.  He  rode  the  whole 
day  at  the  head  of  the  Guard,  and  reached 
Weissenberg  without  meeting  any  resistance. 
General  Miloradowitsch  had  taken  up  a  position 
a  little  farther  on,  on  the  heights  of  Reichenbach, 
to  protect  the  flying  sovereigns.  The  French 
cavalry — reduced,  it  is  true,  to  a  mere  shadow  of 
its  former  glory — was  still  led  by  its  old  officers, 
Bruyeres,  Lefebvre-Desnouettes,  Colbert,  and 
Latour-Maubourg,  and  after  a  hard  fight  the 
Russians  were  thrown  into  retreat.  But  in 
this  comparatively  unimportant  battle,  General 
Bruyeres,  one  of  the  Italian  veterans,  was  killed. 
Napoleon  himself  was  under  fire,  and  one  of  the 


268  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

horsemen  in  his  personal  escort  was  killed  so  close 
to  him  that  the  man  fell  right  at  the  feet  of  his 
horse. 

*  The  luck  is  with  us  to-day,  Duroc  ! '  the 
Emperor  cried  to  his  Master  of  the  Court. 

*  They  were  riding  through  a  crooked  village- 
street  to  reach  an  elevation  from  which  they 
would  get  a  better  view.  The  next  moment  a 
stray  cannon-shot  came  along,  struck  a  tree, 
killed  General  Kirchner,  and  tore  open  the  body 
of  Marshal  Duroc,  who  was  riding  beside  him. 
Marshal  Mortier,  who  was  quite  close,  was  unin- 
jured. Meantime  the  Emperor  had  set  his  horse 
at  a  gallop  to  reach  the  hill,  and  had  seen  nothing. 
It  was  not  till  he  reached  it  that  he  learned  from 
one  of  Oudinot's  adjutants  that  the  Duke  of 
Friaul  had  been  killed.  '  Impossible  !  '  he  ex- 
claimed. c  I  have  only  just  been  speaking  to 
him.'  As  he  was  speaking  Colonel  Gourgaud  came 
with  a  message  from  Ney,  but  Napoleon  rode  back 
and  did  not  listen  to  him.  He  went  with  Mortier 
and  Caulaincourt  into  the  house  in  which  they  had 
placed  Duroc.  They  exchanged  a  few  words, 
and  Napoleon  sat  for  a  long  time  by  the  side  of 
the  wounded  man.  He  had  been  his  most  trusted 
friend  from  youth,  and  was  an  irreplaceable 
servant.  The  day  before  he  fell  Duroc  had  said 
to  Marmont :  '  The  Emperor  has  an  insatiable 
zeal  for  war.  We  shall  all  come  to  an  end  on 
the  field.  That  is  our  fate.' 

The  victory  and  the  hot  pursuit  had  broken 
the  courage  of  the  Allies,  and  they  came  with  a 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  269 

civil  request  for  an  armistice.  And  although  the 
proposal  was  brought  to  Napoleon  by  one  of  his 
worst  enemies,  the  Austrian  Count  Stadion,  he 
accepted  the  unfortunate  armistice.  By  this 
means  he  lost  all  that  he  had  gained.  At  that 
moment — a  moment  that  the  younger  Bonaparte 
would  have  seized  as  swiftly  as  lightning — he 
should  have  forced  them  to  yield  an  honourable 
peace.  But  he  had  once  more  sent  the  Duke  of 
Vicenza  secretly  to  the  Tsar,  and  preferred  to 
engage  in  a  diplomatic  struggle  in  which  he  was 
bound  to  lose.  In  the  eyes  of  his  opponents  he 
was  a  noxious  animal  against  whom  any  device 
could  be  used. 

First  the  armistice  was  properly  executed, 
and  then  it  was  settled  to  hold  a  congress  at 
Prague.  In  this  way  the  whole  of  June  was 
wasted  without  anything  being  done.  Meantime 
the  Allies  were  beseiging  Stettin,  which  was  defended 
by  General  Dufresne.  The  Crown-Prince  of 
Sweden  acted  as  if  he  were  merely  reviewing  the 
besieging  troops  during  the  armistice ;  but  he 
deliberately  rode  as  near  as  possible  to  the  fortifi- 
cations so  that  his  former  soldiers,  whom  he  still 
fancied  to  be  attached  to  him,  could  see  him. 
Suddenly  a  cannon-shot  was  fired  from  the  fortress 
and  the  ball  whizzed  past  Bernadotte's  ears. 
The  Allies  at  once  raised  a  protest  against  this 
breach  of  the  armistice.  But  the  commander  at 
Stettin  answered  :  6  A  French  deserter  was  said 
to  be  in  sight,  and  the  guard  shot  at  him.  That 
was  all.' 


270  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

On  June  27th  Prince  Metternich  came  as  a 
sort  of  intermediary  to  Dresden,  and  had  a  heated 
altercation  with  the  Emperor  in  the  Marcolini 
palace.  Austria's  demands  for  a  general  peace 
were  so  unreasonable  that  the  Emperor  exclaimed  : 
'  How  much  is  England  giving  you  to  spur  Austria 
into  war  with  me.' 

The  Congress  at  Prague  was  conducted  on 
the  principle  of  saying  a  great  deal  and  deciding 
nothing.  The  Allies  made  various  arrangements 
with  each  other,  but  Napoleon's  envoys  could 
learn  nothing  of  them.  They  were  either  kept  at 
a  distance  or  duped.  King  Murat  returned,  and 
offered  his  services.  After  abandoning  the  army 
and  returning  home,  he  had  made  a  secret  arrange- 
ment with  Austria.  He  was  so  foolish,  and  knew 
so  little  of  the  real  value  of  princely  promises, 
that  he  imagined  he  could  retain  his  crown  after 
the  fall  of  the  man  who  alone  had  the  art  of 
making  kings  out  of  waiters.  At  the  same  time 
he  ventured  to  offer  his  services  to  Napoleon ; 
and  Napoleon  accepted  them,  although  he  knew 
everything.  But  he  had  some  feeling  for  his  first 
cavalry-general,  and  he  expected  from  Murat 
nothing  more  than  stupidity  and  ingratitude. 

During  the  long  diplomatic  negotiations 
Napoleon  again  ruled  the  world  from  Dresden.  A 
stream  of  generals  and  ambassadors  poured  about 
him  once  more  ;  but  there  were  less  kings  than  in 
1812.  Under  his  control  things  went  on  their 
normal  way.  The  regiments  found  quarters  and 
provisions,  the  recruits  were  drilled,  and  all  that 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS   271 

the  army  needed  was  brought  up  from  the  depots. 
Horses  alone  were  lacking. 

The  small  but  brave  Polish  army  under 
Poniatowski  had  now  no  fatherland  except  under 
the  French  colours  which  they  had  followed  so 
long.  Napoleon  gave  them  the  same  pay  and 
conditions  as  to  his  French  soldiers.  All  the 
millions  he  had  accumulated  in  the  shape  of  spoil 
or  war-indemnities  during  the  good  years,  and 
which  had  lain  well -guarded  in  the  Marsan  room 
at  the  Louvre,  now  served  to  lighten  the  burdens 
of  the  poor  Saxons,  whose  country  had  become 
the  theatre  of  war.  Suddenly  Metternich  an- 
nounced to  Caulaincourt  and  Narbonne  that  the 
Congress  of  Prague  was  dissolved.  The  prepara- 
tions of  the  Allies  were  completed,  and  Bliicher 
attacked  the  French  in  Schleswig  two  days  before 
the  termination  of  the  armistice.  One  did  not 
need  to  be  too  scrupulous  with  the  hereditary 
enemy.  The  armistice  was  to  run  out  on  the  15th, 
but  on  the  12th  Bliicher  attacked  Ney,  Marmont, 
and  Macdonald,  who  lay  between  Bober  and 
Katzbach.  Napoleon  hurried  up,  and  drove 
Bliicher  back  step  by  step. 

On  the  22nd  of  August,  however,  a  courier 
came  from  Marshal  St.  Cyr  with  the  news  that 
the  enemy  was  near  Dresden — a  little  to  the  west 
of  it,  as  if  preparing  to  move  between  Leipzig  and 
Dresden.  It  had  been  suggested  that  they  should 
advance  in  the  direction  of  Leipzig,  but  Generals 
Jomini  and  Moreau  had  pointed  out  how  dangerous 


272  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

it  was  to  have  the  Emperor  in  their  rear.  Sch- 
wartzenberg  therefore  advanced  with  all  speed  on 
Dresden,  while  Napoleon  was  occupied  in  driving 
Bliicher  out  of  Schleswig. 

Prince  Schwartzenberg  had  already  collected 
200,000  men,  but  he  wanted  to  wait  for  General 
Klenau.  Moreau  was  quite  nervous  with  their 
delays  and  precautions,  and  spoke  rather  sharply 
about  making  good  use  of  their  time.  The  Prince 
gave  him  a  heated  reply ;  and  Moreau,  slipping 
off  the  mask  of  a  courtier  and  becoming  the  old 
republican  once  more,  flung  his  hat  on  the  ground 
and  exclaimed,  '  Do  you  know  what,  sir,  the 
devil  knows  that  I  am  no  longer  astonished  that 
you  have  done  nothing  but  be  beaten  for  the  last 
seventeen  years.' 

On  hearing  of  the  enemy's  advance  on 
Dresden,  Napoleon  wheeled  round  immediately 
with  his  Guard,  and  the  corps  of  Mortier  and  Ney, 
and  left  Marshal  Macdonald  alone  with  Generals 
Lauriston  and  Souham  to  face  Bliicher.  He 
reached  Stolpen  with  incredible  speed,  and  worked 
out  a  great  plan  of  carrying  out  a  manoeuvre  over 
the  bridges  at  Lilienstein  and  Konigstein.  But 
Marshal  St.  Cyr  began  to  be  anxious  at  Dresden. 
Napoleon  had  sent  General  Gourgaud  to  him  to 
ask  if  he  could  not  hold  the  city  two  days  longer. 
The  general  came  back  at  full  speed  on  the  evening 
of  the  25th  of  August,  and  so  much  alarmed  the 
Emperor  that  he  gave  up  his  plan  and  sent  his 
troops  by  forced  marches  to  Dresden.  At  the 
same  time  he  sent  General  Vandamme  with  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  273 

engineer  Haxo  and  a  number  of  good  officers  into 
Bohemia,  where,  according  to  Napoleon's  cal- 
culation, they  should  catch  the  Allied  armies  in 
flight  and  take  them  prisoners  if  he  beat  them. 
But  it  fell  out  quite  otherwise  with  Vandamme 
and  his  army. 

On  the  morning  of  August  26th  the  Emperor 
himself  rode  into  the  Saxon  capital,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  all ;  and  it  was  quite  time  that  he  came. 
That  very  afternoon  Schwartzenberg  brought  the 
whole  of  his  fighting  forces  against  the  town,  and 
his  troops  gradually  advanced  as  far  as  the  large 
garden,  where  they  were  received  by  a  part  of 
the  Imperial  Guard.  Meantime  Napoleon  had 
collected  his  troops  in  the  town,  and  suddenly 
the  young  Guard,  with  Marshals  Mortier  and  Ney 
at  their  head,  poured  out  of  the  gates  like  two 
roaring  torrents,  and  swept  back  the  Austrians, 
Russians  and  Prussians.  It  was  a  short  but  vigorous 
fight,  and  five  generals  of  the  Guard  were  wounded. 
The  King  of  Naples  drove  back  the  enemy  in 
the  direction  of  Wilsdruff  with  the  cavalry  of  the 
Guard  and  Latour-Manbourg's  curassiers.  The 
French  re-occupied  all  their  positions,  and  the 
Allies,  who  now  knew  that  the  Emperor  himself 
was  in  Dresden,  retired  at  all  points.  In  the 
evening,  after  making  his  preparations  for  a 
great  battle  on  the  following  day,  Napoleon  joined 
the  King  of  Saxony  at  table,  and  was  in  what  was 
for  him  a  most  brilliant  mood. 

In  the  camp  of  the  Allies  the  night  was  spent 
in  mutual  recrimination.  There  was  a  thick  mist 


274  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

on  the  following  day,  August  27th.  It  had  been 
raining  all  night,  and  continued  to  do  so  with 
great  violence  during  the  day.  The  flint-lock 
weapons  of  the  infantry,  with  their  open  pans, 
were  almost  unusable.  Thus  the  great  battle  was 
fought  with  artillery,  and  with  sabre  and  bayonet. 
The  cannons  opened  fire  at  seven  in  the  morning, 
and  thundered  the  whole  day  long.  Murat  and 
Marshal  Victor  threw  themselves  on  the  Austrian 
left  wing  on  the  Plauen  estate.  General  Mitzko 
was  taken  prisoner  with  his  cavalry-division. 
The  centre  of  the  Allies  was  gradually  pierced, 
and  on  the  right  wing,  where  Napoleon  opposed 
the  Russians,  Wittgenstein  was  forced  to  retreat 
after  a  stubborn  resistance.  On  the  heights  of 
B-acknitz,  where  the  Allied  princes  were  with  their 
generals,  staffs,  and  body-guards,  great  masses  of 
troops  were  concentrated,  and  these  could  only  be 
reached  by  the  artillery.  The  cannons  of  the 
Guard  were  directed  to  drive  the  enemy  from 
this  position,  and  the  Emperor  himself  com- 
manded the  advancing  batteries. 

At  that  time  the  distances  were  so  slight- 
even  for  the  artillery — that  from  the  French 
batteries  one  could  see  the  brilliant  group  around 
the  Allied  sovereigns,  and  all  at  once  an  unusual 
excitement  was  noticed  amongst  these  horsemen. 
It  was  supposed  that  some  important  personage 
or  at  least  a  high  officer,  had  been  wounded  or 
killed.  And  when  in  the  evening  a  stray  dog 
ran  into  the  line  of  the  French  advanced  posts, 
with  the  name  *  General  Moreau '  round  its  neck, 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  275 

it  was  thought  possible  that  it  was  he  who  had 
fallen.  Such  was  really  the  case.  Moreau  was 
sitting  on  his  horse,  quite  close  to  Alexander,  when 
a  ball  from  the  French  batteries  struck  him.  It 
shattered  his  thigh,  passed  through  his  horse,  and 
tore  his  other  leg.  Both  had  to  be  amputated, 
but  he  did  not  survive  the  operation.  It  is  said 
that  the  aged  hero  smoked  a  cigar  while  the 
surgeons  were  busy  on  him. 

In  the  evening  and  during  the  night  Schwart- 
zenberg  retreated  along  the  Teplitz  road  in  the 
direction  of  Bohemia.  All  the  other  roads  were 
closed.  He  left  30,000  dead,  and  12,000  prisoners 
under  the  walls  of  Dresden.  Napoleon  had  been 
twelve  hours  on  horseback  in  the  pouring  rain 
when  he  rode  back  into  Dresden.  He  entered  it 
over  the  old  bridge  from  Neustadt.  The  body- 
guard, wet  through,  rode  before  him  at  walking 
pace.  Then  came  the  Emperor  himself,  carelessly 
holding  to  the  wet  saddle,  his  military  coat  soaked 
through  with  rain,  and  his  famous  hat  so  saturated 
and  softened  that  the  wide  brims,  usually  turned 
up,  hung  down  to  his  shoulders.  But  the  soldiers 
and  the  whole  of  Dresden  were  wild  with  joy. 
The  Saxon  court  gave  him  a  great  ovation  as  he 
strode  into  the  well-lit  room  after  his  bath  and 
toilet.  Friedrich  August,  who  had  been  torn  with 
anxiety  the  whole  year,  and  could  never  be  quite 
sure  whether  he  had  been  betrayed  or  bought, 
began  to  think  it  was  all  right  this  time. 

But  all  this  was  of  no  avail.  Too  much  time 
had  been  lost,  and  the  resources  of  the  Allied 


276  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

princes  in  men,  horses,  and  material,  were  over- 
whelming. In  the  weeks  following  the  battle  of 
Dresden,  Napoleon  let  his  armies  scatter  under 
marshals  and  generals,  and  operate  on  their  own 
account,  far  more  than  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  do.  It  is  true  that  his  vast  plans  embraced  all 
their  manoeuvres,  but  without  taking  account  of 
possible  failures  ;  or,  to  put  it  more  correctly, 
without  that  gift  of  preventing  failures  or  at  least 
being  independent  of  them  that  General  Bonaparte 
had  had  in  earlier  years. 

His  record  from  May  to  September  is  as  follows: 
On  May  2nd  he  won  the  great  battle  of  Liitzen. 
On  May  20th  and  21st  he  again  conquered  at 
Bautzen  and  Wurschen.  Then  came  the  armistice 
and  the  Congress  of  Prague.  On  June  21st 
Marshal  Jourdan  and  King  Joseph  lost  the  decisive 
battle  of  Vittoria,  and  with  it  Spain.  On  August 
21st  Napoleon  said :  '  To-day  the  Duke  of  Reggio 
advances  on  Berlin.'  In  reality  Oudinot  was  still 
far  from  Berlin,  partly  owing  to  floods,  and  partly 
to  the  pressure  of  Bernadotte,  who  at  last  beat 
him  at  Grossbeeren.  On  August  26th  Macdonald 
lost  the  battle  on  the  Katzbach  against  Bliicher. 
On  August  26th  and  27th  the  Emperor  won  the 
great  battle  of  Dresden.  On  August  30th  Van- 
damme  was  beaten  by  General  Ostermann  at 
Kulm  in  Bohemia,  and  was  taken  prisoner  with 
7,000  men.  Finally,  on  September  26th,  Ney  lost 
the  battle  of  Dennewitz  against  the  Crown-prince 
of  Sweden. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  277 

It  will  be  readily  understood  that  this  record 
encouraged  the  Allies.  The  whole  of  Germany 
was  heaving  under  them,  and  a  rising  of  the  entire 
German  nation  was  very  convenient  for  its 
generals  and  diplomatists  ;  while  Napoleon's  allies 
fell  off  one  by  one,  voluntarily  or  involuntarily. 
Bavaria  declared  war  ;  Wiirtemberg  followed  suit ; 
the  grand-duke  of  Baden  joined  them.  The  King 
of  Saxony  alone  remained  firm  against  all  temp- 
tations and  promises,  and  marched  with  Napoleon 
as  far  as  the  last  town  in  his  kingdom.  The 
secession  of  Bavaria  was  particularly  dangerous,  as 
they  had  guarded  the  French  frontier  to  the 
north  of  Mayence. 

The  only  thing  for  Napoleon  to  do  now  was 
to  reach  Leipzig  before  the  Allies  so  that  his 
connections  with  France  might  not  be  cut.  He 
had,  therefore,  to  leave  Dresden,  which  he  had 
begun  to  convert  into  a  great  armed  centre  from 
which  he  might  hasten  to  the  help  of  any  of  his 
army-corps  with  his  invincible  Guard.  He  left, 
however,  two  of  his  best  generals,  Marshal  St.  Cyr 
and  General  Mouton,  Count  of  Lobau,  in  the  city 
with  30,000  fine  soldiers.  He  was  never  to  see 
them  again. 

He  made  these  fateful  dispositions  because 
he  was  still  deceiving  himself  with  his  great  plan 
for  routing  the  Allies.  But  they  were  now  so 
astute  that  his  plan  very  soon  proved  incapable  of 
being  carried  out,  and  his  30,000  men  at  Dresden 
were  swept  away.  He  had  all  the  more  need  of 
these  troops  since  he  had  now  to  fight  on  the  open 


278  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

plains  of  Leipzig  with  155,000  men  against  an 
enemy  that  was  300,000  strong,  and  had  twice  the 
force  of  cavalry  that  he  had.  On  October  15th 
the  position  of  the  two  armies  round  Leipzig  was 
such  that  a  great  battle  was  inevitable  on  the 
following  day.  The  advanced  posts  approached 
each  other  within  range  of  a  flint-lock  musket. 

On  the  following  morning  about  nine  o'clock, 
three  cannon-shots  were  fired  as  a  signal  to  the 
Allies,  and  at  once  three  strong  columns,  supported 
by  200  cannons,  advanced  from  the  army-corps 
of  Wittgenstein  and  General  Kleist.  On  this  first 
day  of  the  battle  the  fight  raged  along  the  line  of 
Markkleeberg,  Wachau,  and  Liebertwolkwitz,  far 
outside  the  range  of  the  town  at  that  time.  The 
two  latter  villages  were  taken  and  re-taken  several 
times  in  the  course  of  the  morning.  Marshal 
Victor  defended  Wachau  against  General  Kleist, 
and  Lauriston  defended  Liebertwolkwitz  against 
General  Gortschakow.  With  them  were  Latour- 
Maubourg,  Sebastiani,  and  Milhaud  of  the  French 
cavalry.  Meantime  the  Austrians  under  Klenau 
attempted  to  surround  the  French  to  the  east  of 
the  town.  It  was  known  that  an  army,  either 
that  of  Bliicher  or  of  Bernadotte,  was  approaching 
from  the  north. 

The  fight  was  so  vigorous  from  the  early 
morning  onwards  that  by  mid-day  about  18,000 
men  had  already  fallen  on  both  sides.  At  this 
moment  Napoleon  was  informed  that  the  enemy 
was  also  surrounding  his  positions  on  the  west 
side,  General  Margaron  having  been  attacked  by 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  279 

the  Austrian  General  Gyulai.  To  the  north  of 
Leipzig  Bliicher  had  already  made  his  appearance. 
He  had  heard  the  guns.  Marmont  fought  him  all 
day  long,  with  the  support  of  Ney,  who  brought 
up  the  divisions  of  Souham  and  Dombrowski. 

After  twelve  o'clock  the  Emperor  determined 
to  go  on  from  defending  his  positions  to  a  strong 
attack  on  Schwartzenberg's  centre.  Mortier 
advanced  with  Lauriston,  Victor,  and  Oudinot. 
Between  them  was  Drouot's  artillery  of  the  Guard, 
and  with  them  also  were  the  cavalry  of  the  Guard 
under  Latour-Maubourg,  Kellermann,  and  Nan- 
souty,  and  the  divisions  of  Curial,  Friant,  and 
Gerard.  There  was  no  question  now  of  sparing 
any  bodies  of  troops.  On  the  extreme  left 
Macdonald  began  to  force  Klenau  back,  and  the 
Prince  of  Wiirtemberg  was  equally  unable  to 
retain  his  position.  But  Rajewski's  10,000  grena- 
diers stood  like  walls  before  Drouot's  guns,  and 
let  themselves  be  shot.  Behind  them  Schwart- 
zenberg  gathered  large  masses  of  reserves,  and 
these  he  sent  on  and  arrested  the  first  attack. 

About  four  o'clock  Napoleon  decided  to 
venture  everything  in  order  to  convert  the  battle 
into  a  complete  victory.  He  took  the  whole  of 
the  cavalry  at  his  disposal,  and  flung  them  against 
the  village  of  Wachau.  Twelve  thousand  horse, 
with  King  Joachim  at  their  head,  flew  to  the 
attack.  Murat  scattered  the  enemy's  cavalry  and 
the  ranks  of  the  Russian  grenadiers,  drove  back 
the  whole  corps  of  the  Prince  of  Wurtemberg,  and 
took  26  guns.  But  before  there  was  any  decisive 


280  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

victory,  General  Pajol,  a  veteran  of  the  republican 
days,  was  blown  up  by  a  shell  that  exploded  under 
his  horse.  Generals  Maison  and  Latour-Maubourg 
were  wounded  and  fell  from  their  horses,  and  in 
the  confusion  that  followed  the  Cossacks  succeeded 
in  recovering  the  26  guns  from  Murat.  Then 
large  masses  of  troops  came  over  from  the  right, 
where  the  Prince  of  Hesse-Homburg  had  tried  to 
rout  Poniatowski  and  Augereau.  General  Nostitz's 
Austrian  curassiers  forced  back  Kellermann  and 
Lefort.  Murat  himself  had  to  stop  at  the  village 
of  Giildengossa.  He  had  re-taken  the  guns  ;  but 
Latour-Maubourg  had  lost  a  leg,  and  General  Pajol 
was  severely  injured. 

The  Tsar  had  agreed  to  let  all  the  troops 
advance,  including  the  Cossacks  and  hussars.  But 
Napoleon,  who  now  saw  that  even  his  great  cavalry 
attack  had  not  decided  the  battle,  resolved  to 
make  a  third  attempt,  and  gave  a  fresh  order  for 
the  concentration  of  his  whole  forces  on  Wachau. 
The  Allies  were  receiving  constant  reinforcements 
from  the  right,  led  by  General  Meerfeldt.  The 
Emperor  sent  the  old  Guard  itself  under  General 
Curial  against  him,  and  the  general  and  his  men 
went  to  work  with  such  energy  that  they  took 
Meerfeldt  and  2,000  men  prisoners.  The  battle 
came  to  a  standstill.  Neither  party  could  claim 
a  victory,  and  the  darkness  was  setting  in. 

Prince  Poniatowski  had  resisted  the  Austrians 
who  wanted  to  force  the  passage  over  the  Pleisse 
throughout  the  whole  day,  and  Napoleon  made 
him  a  Marshal  of  France.  It  was  now  evening, 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  281 

but  the  Emperor  determined  on  one  more  attack 
on  the  unfortunate  village  of  Giildengossa.  Mortier 
and  Maison  advanced  in  their  customary  way. 
But  Barclay  de  Tolly  sent  in  the  Russian  Guard, 
and  it  was  found  impossible  to  dislodge  the 
Russians  from  the  village,  though  General  Maison 
stood  there  in  the  dark  and  roared  like  a  lion. 
He  had  received  a  number  of  wounds,  and  had  had 
three  horses  shot  under  him.  That  morning  he 
had  said  to  his  soldiers  :  *  This  is  the  last  day  for 
France.  We  shall  all  have  closed  our  eyes  by 
to-night.'  And  neither  he  nor  his  men  had  spared 
themselves.  Hardly  a  thousand  men  were  left 
of  his  division.  But  the  brave  general  lived  to 
see  his  prophecy  falsified.  General  Count  Maison 
was  made  a  Marshal  of  France  after  the  campaign 
in  Morea  in  1828.  He  was  afterwards  an  ambas- 
sador under  Louis  Philippe,  and  lived  until  1840. 

The  fight  at  Wachau  was  the  chief  one  of 
the  day,  and  cost  50,000  men.  There  was  also 
fighting  to  the  west  of  the  town,  where  General 
Margaron  kept  off  Gyulai,  and  to  the  north,  where 
Marmont  had  to  sustain  a  heavy  struggle  with 
Bliicher.  Marmont  and  Compans  were  under  fire 
all  day  long.  The  marshal  received  several  bullets 
in  his  uniform,  a  wound  in  the  hand,  and  another 
in  the  shoulder.  Unfortunately  a  shell  fell  in 
Compans'  powder  waggon,  and  in  the  confusion 
that  followed  the  explosion  the  enemy  succeeded 
in  taking  the  battery  and  forcing  Marmont  to 
retreat.  He  had  fought  with  24,000  men  against 
60,000  and  killed  10,000  of  them. 


282  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

That  was  the  first  day  of  the  battle  of  Leipzig. 
On  the  next  day,  October  17th,  there  was  no 
fighting.  They  had  enough  to  do  on  both  sides 
to  restore  order  in  their  armies  after  the  great 
battle  and  the  long  marches  in  the  incessant  rain. 
Napoleon  rode,  as  usual,  over  the  field.  It  was 
a  ghastly  sight.  There  was  blank  despair  around 
him  on  every  side.  No  one  could  fail  to  see  now 
that  it  was  all  over  with  the  Emperor  and  his 
power,  or  would  be  in  a  very  short  time.  He 
spoke  of  a  retreat  by  way  of  Lindenau  in  the 
direction  of  Liitzen,  but  he  was  unwilling  to 
acknowledge  that  the  battle  had  been  lost,  as  in 
reality  it  had  not.  However,  his  army  was 
surrounded  in  such  a  way  that  it  couid  hardly 
expect  any  reinforcements,  while  every  fight 
weakened  its  strength.  On  the  other  hand  the 
allies  were  so  distributed  that  fresh  reinforcements 
were  constantly  pouring  in  at  their  outer  ring. 

It  was  hard  for  him  to  have  to  abandon  all 
the  gains  of  France  in  these  parts  and  see  the  new 
frontiers  he  had  given  his  empire  collapse,  while 
he  still  had  good  garrisons  in  Dresden,  Torgau, 
Wittenberg,  Magdeburg,  Glogau,  Kiistrin,  Stettin, 
Dantzig,  and  Hamburg — altogether  170,000  men. 
And  they  were  expecting  every  day  General 
Reynier  with  30,000  men,  though  these  were 
Saxons.  The  Emperor  hesitated  all  day  long, 
and  made  no  serious  preparations  for  retreat.  He 
sent  a  marshal's  staff  to  Poniatowski,  and  had  the 
captured  General  Meerfeldt  summoned  to  his  tent. 
They  talked  together  for  some  time,  and  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  283 

Emperor  gave  him  back  his  sword  and  his  liberty. 
Meerf  eldt  had  been  one  of  the  Austrian  negotiators 
before  the  peace  of  Campo  Formio  in  1797,  when 
the  young  General  Bonaparte  had  terrified  Count 
Cobentzl  by  breaking  his  tea-service.  He  was 
now  sent  by  Napoleon  to  treat  with  the  Allies. 
He  was  to  say  that  the  Emperor  was  prepared, 
as  he  had  been  two  months  before,  to  make  great 
sacrifices  in  the  interest  of  peace ;  but  Napoleon 
was  thinking  only  of  an  armistice  to  get  him  out 
of  his  present  fix.  He  received  no  answer,  of 
course,  to  his  proposals. 

At  last,  when  the  evening  was  already  far 
advanced,  Napoleon  began  to  make  some  prepara- 
tions for  the  retreat ;  but  it  was  to  be  an 
imposing  retreat — it  was  to  look  like  a 
manoeuvre.  The  Allies  had  been  quiet  on  the 
17th,  partly  for  the  purpose  of  resting  and  partly 
because  they  were  expecting  Generals  Colloredo 
and  Bennigsen  from  the  east  and  Bernadotte  from 
the  north.  The  latter  had  to  be  urged  on  by 
Bliicher  and  by  the  English  envoy,  and  was  so 
careful  and  anxious  that  the  Allies  had  doubts 
both  as  to  his  courage  and  his  reliability.  In  the 
course  of  the  day  the  Austrians  came  up  under 
Colloredo  and  the  Russians  under  Bennigsen  ;  and 
at  last  Bernadotte  arrived.  People  could  see  the 
reinforcements  from  the  towers  of  Leipzig,  as  they 
poured  in  continuously  and  completed  Schwart- 
zenberg's  lines.  In  the  evening  the  whole  horizon 
round  the  town  was  marked  by  an  uninterrupted 
ring  of  camp  fires. 


284  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Count  Rochechouart,  a  French  emigrant  in 
the  service  of  Russia,  rode  with  an  order  from 
the  Emperor  Alexander  to  Bernadotte,  who  was 
at  Paunsdorf.  He  found  the  Crown-prince  of 
Sweden  sitting  on  a  big  white  horse,  dressed  in  a 
velvet  mantle  covered  with  violet  and  gold  cords, 
a  hat  with  white  feathers,  and  above  these  again  a 
high  tuft  of  feathers  in  the  Swedish  colours.  In 
his  hand  he  had  a  marshal's  staff  covered  with 
purple  velvet  with  a  golden  crown  at  each  end. 
At  the  end  of  the  battle  Bernadotte  cried  out : 
*  A  few  more  shells  for  these  French ;  I  love 
them  above  everything.'  It  was  in  these  days, 
while  the  Swedish  Crown-prince  was  firing  on  the 
French  troops  at  Leipzig,  that  there  was  a  great 
outburst  of  indignation  against  him  in  France.  The 
Moniteur  contained  addresses  every  day  from  the 
provinces  and  the  large  towns  in  some  such  terms 
as  :  '  Let  us  disown  this  ungrateful  Frenchman, 
this  traitor  to  his  country,'  etc. 

On  October  18th  Napoleon  began  at  two  in 
the  morning  to  dispose  his  troops  in  a  smaller 
circle  round  Leipzig.  His  plan  was  gradually  and 
with  steady  fighting  to  withdraw  his  army  on  to 
the  high  road  at  Lindenau,  and  march  westwards 
from  there  by  the  road  at  Liitzen.  Colonel 
Montfort,  of  the  engineers,  turned  to  Berthier  and 
asked  for  orders  to  throw  several  bridges  over 
the  smaller  streams  and  watercourses  round  the 
town.  But  Berthier  was  obtuse  as  usual,  and 
would  not  speak  to  the  Emperor  about  such 
details. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  285 

The  struggle  on  the  18th  centred  chiefly 
about  the  village  of  Probstheida,  to  the  south-east 
of  the  town,  where  Napoleon  was  with  Marshal 
Victor's  corps.  But  fighting  went  on  all  day  also 
at  Dolitz,  where  Marshals  Poniatowski  and  Auge- 
reau  resisted  the  Prince  of  Hesse-Homburg,  who 
was  wounded  and  replaced  by  General  Bianchi. 
Marmont  again  was  engaged  with  Bliicher  and 
Bernadotte  to  the  north  of  the  town,  as  on  the 
preceding  day ;  and  finally,  the  Austrians  were 
again  endeavouring  to  rout  Bertrand  in  the  west, 
who  was  ordered  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
march,  and  begin  with  the  removal  of  the  great 
transport-train  and  the  heavier  waggons. 

Round  Probstheida  the  fight  went  on  furiously 
all  day  long.  At  two  there  was  a  grand  attack 
on  the  village,  which  the  French  had  had  to 
evacuate  twice.  The  Emperor  considered  the 
position  so  important  that  he  led  a  final  attack  in 
person  and  drove  out  the  Prussians.  Generals  Vial 
and  Rochambeau  fell  in  this  struggle.  Vial  was 
one  of  the  great  leaders.  He  received  his  command 
when  Kleber  was  wounded  at  Alexandria,  shortly 
after  they  landed  in  Egypt ;  and  it  was  Rocham- 
beau  who  conducted  the  expedition  in  Hayti  after 
the  death  of  Leclerc.  In  the  course  of  the  after- 
noon Schwartzenberg  ordered  a  heavy  artillery-fire 
in  the  hope  of  driving  the  French  army  into 
Leipzig  and  keeping  them  there.  In  this  he 
succeeded.  One  position  after  another  had  to 
be  evacuated,  and  the  French  were  gradually 


286  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

driven  back  into  the  suburbs  of  the  town.  Mean- 
time Ney,  Marmont,  Souham,  and  Reynier  (who 
had  now  come  up  with  his  Saxons),  were  fighting 
with  equal  energy  to  the  north-east  of  the  town, 
at  Paunsdorf,  against  Bliicher  and  Bernadotte 
and  the  Russians,  who  were  now  advancing  from 
the  east. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  a  division  of  the 
Saxon  cavalry,  which  was  sent  against  the 
Russians,  turned  round  instead  of  attacking,  and 
took  up  a  position  in  the  Russian  line  of  battle. 
This  was  only  the  beginning  of  the  desertions. 
The  moment  the  enemy  appeared  at  Paunsdorf 
the  rest  of  the  Saxon  troops,  with  40  guns  and  the 
Wiirtemberg  cavalry  under  General  Normann, 
went  over  to  the  Russians,  and  all  their  com- 
mander's efforts  to  stop  them  were  of  no  avail. 
This  commander  was  the  Bavarian  General  von 
Zeschau.  He  remained  with  the  French  like  a 
man  of  honour,  with  five  or  six  hundred  of  his 
soldiers.  It  was  not  enough  for  these  troops  to 
desert  in  the  progress  of  a  battle.  As  soon  as 
they  got  some  distance  away,  they  turned  their 
guns,  and  fired  into  the  midst  of  Durutte's  division, 
which  had  been  drawn  up  expressly  to  cover  the 
Saxons  and  serve  as  their  reserve.  General 
Delmas,  another  of  the  old  stock,  fell  under  this 
fire. 

There  were  200  cannons  in  action  as  long  as 
the  light  lasted.  The  French  understood  that 
now  the  work  begun  in  Russia  was  to  be  con- 
summated, and  they  fought  more  heroically  than 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  287 

ever.  The  Allies  on  their  side  had  enough  to 
avenge.  Both  Austrians  and  Russians  had  an 
account  of  many  years'  standing  to  settle.  But 
the  enthusiasm  and  fighting  spirit  were  greatest  of 
all  amongst  the  Germans — the  youth  of  Germany 
that  had  arisen  and  flown  to  the  great  battle  of 
the  peoples,  to  win  freedom  for  their  fatherland, 
and  shatter  the  tyrants  for  ever. 

The  French  army  had  to  begin  its  retreat  at 
once,  as  they  had  only  powder  and  balls  for  two 
hours  more,  and  the  next  arsenals  were  at  Erfurt 
and  Magdeburg.  During  the  last  five  days  the 
French  had  fired  250,000  rounds  from  their  guns, 
an  enormous  figure  for  the  guns  of  that  period. 
All  night  long  trains  and  waggons  were  passing 
over  the  Lindenau  bridge  ;  they  were  followed 
by  the  cavalry,  the  Guard,  and  part  of  the  infantry. 
The  greatest  obstacle  to  the  march  was  found  in 
the  many  watercourses,  over  which  there  were 
not  enough  bridges. 

With  the  first  streaks  of  dawn  there  began  a 
furious  struggle  in  the  streets  of  Leipzig,  and  it 
became  fiercer  and  fiercer  as  the  light  grew.  It 
was  worst  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  large  bridge 
over  the  Elster,  leading  to  the  high  road  from 
Frankfort  to  Lindenau,  which  was  about  two 
miles  long  in  its  elevated  part.  If  the  Emperor 
had  given  the  obvious  order  to  fire  the  suburbs 
and  defend  the  retreat  step  by  step,  destroying 
everything  behind  him,  the  whole  army  would 
have  had  plenty  of  time  to  get  over  the  bridge ; 
but  he  would  not  ruin  Leipzig,  out  of  regard  for 


288  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  aged  king.  He  bade  a  heartfelt  farewell  to 
his  one  true  ally,  the  only  prince  for  whom  he 
had  ever  had  a  personal  feeling. 

In  their  delight  at  the  retreat,  which  they 
had  hardly  expected,  the  Allies  rushed  impetuously 
into  the  suburbs  of  Leipzig,  but  the  gates  were 
obstinately  held  by  Marmont,  Reynier,  Ney, 
Poniatowski,  and  Lauriston.  If  they  had  kept 
their  position  for  two  hours  more — and  there  was 
every  appearance  that  they  could  do  so — the 
whole  army  could  have  crossed  the  bridge  at 
Lindenau  and  reached  the  road  to  Liitzen.  But 
just  then  occurred  one  of  those  unfortunate 
episodes  that  could  never  have  happened  to  the 
Emperor  in  his  best  days — to  say  nothing  of 
General  Bonaparte — but  which  abound  in  the 
Russian  and  Saxon  campaigns.  The  Elster  bridge 
was  undermined  and  ready  to  be  blown  up.  The 
Emperor  had  personally  supervised  the  carrying 
out  of  this  work,  and  he  had  left  behind  orders 
that  the  mine  was  not  to  be  fired  until  the  last 
moment,  when  the  army  was  across  and  the  enemy 
close  at  hand.  He  then  rode  across  with  his 
staff. 

The  crush  now  became  frightful,  and  the 
situation  was  not  easy  to  survey.  There  were 
still  numbers  of  foreign  troops  amongst  the  French, 
in  spite  of  the  desertions  of  the  previous  day.  Men 
in  all  sorts  of  uniforms  were  crossing  the  bridge  in  the 
greatest  disorder  and  under  different  commands, 
and  the  noise  of  the  guns  and  small  arms  came 
nearer  and  nearer.  There  ought  to  have  been  a 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  289 

general  of  engineers  with  his  staff  on  the  bridge, 
but  in  point  of  fact  it  was  merely  a  high  officer 
who  had  charge  of  the  mines,  and  he  seems  to 
have  lost  his  head.  It  is  said  that  he  thought  of 
crossing  the  bridge  to  get  more  precise  instructions 
from  the  Emperor.  It  turned  out  as  he  might 
have  expected.  Once  he  got  into  the  torrent  of 
men  that  swept  over  the  bridge,  no  power  in  the 
world  could  have  brought  him  back  to  his  place 
at  the  mines.  There  was  now  only  a  non-com- 
missioned officer  with  the  burning  fuse  in  his 
hand. 

No  one  will  be  surprised  that  the  poor  man, 
with  no  explicit  order  or  indication  of  the  right 
moment,  fired  the  mine  prematurely.  The  fearful 
noise  it  made,  rising  above  the  thunder  of  the 
guns  and  all  other  sounds,  awakened  Napoleon,  who 
had  dropped  off  to  sleep  while  he  was  dictating 
orders  for  Macdonald.  Murat  and  Augereau 
rushed  to  him  and  told  him  that  the  big  bridge 
over  the  Elster  had  been  blown  up.  It  meant 
that  20,000  men  were  cut  off  from  him  and  from 
France,  and  devoted  to  destruction.  It  was 
almost  like  the  tragedy  on  the  Beresina.  Many 
of  them  preferred  to  die  rather  than  surrender. 
They  threw  themselves  into  the  river,  but  only  a 
few  good  swimmers  and  the  officers  who  rode 
sound  horses  got  across. 

Marshal  Poniatowski  heard  the  explosion,  like 
the  others,  and  knew  what  it  meant.  He  gave 
up  the  fight  as  useless,  and  flung  himself  in  the 
river  with  a  few  other  officers.  But  he  was 


290  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

exhausted  with  wounds  and  with  his  exertions, 
and  could  not  drive  the  animal  up  the  opposite 
bank.  It  fell  back  into  the  river,  and  the  prince 
was  drowned.  The  brave  Pole  only  carried  for 
three  days  the  marshal's  staff  he  had  so  well 
deserved.  General  Dumoussier  also  was  drowned. 
The  tall  powerful  Scot,  Macdonald,  tore  off  his 
marshal's  uniform  and  all  his  clothes,  leaped  into 
the  water,  and  swam  across  the  Elster.  He 
crawled  up  the  opposite  bank,  and  raced  across 
the  field.  He  fortunately  discovered  a  few  soldiers 
of  his  own  corps,  and  at  once  resumed  command, 
stark  naked  at  he  was.  He  had  to  cover  the 
retreat. 

Napoleon  left  the  flower  of  the  youth  of 
France  and  the  core  of  his  old  invincible  army 
on  the  plains  of  Leipzig.  Seventeen  generals  were 
taken  prisoners,  including  General  Lauriston. 
And  Napoleon  lost  here  also  the  confidence  of  his 
officers  and  the  whole  of  his  influence  in  Europe, 
yet  he  kept  his  saddle  and  fought  from  Leipzig 
to  Erfurt  against  the  force,  four  times  as  great  as 
his  own,  that  was  pursuing  him.  The  enemy  never 
ceased  to  look  on  him  as  the  dreadful  soldier 
whom  it  was  dangerous  to  approach. 

On  October  22nd  he  reached  Oppenheim, 
with  French  troops  only  about  him  ;  not  a  man 
was  left  of  his  foreign  auxiliaries.  And  now  the 
unreliability  of  his  own  men  began  to  be  apparent. 
Murat,  who  had  returned  to  his  old  brilliance  in 
the  three  days  at  Leipzig,  had  a  secret  conversation 
during  the  night  with  the  Austrian,  Count  de 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  291 

Meer,  who  had  stolen  into  the  camp.  The  Count 
promised  Murat,  in  the  name  of  Austria  and 
England,  that  he  should  retain  the  crown  of 
Naples  if  he  abandoned  Napoleon.  Two  days 
later  Napoleon  and  Murat  parted.  There  was 
only  one  serious  obstacle  to  the  march  on  Mayence. 
The  Bavarian  General  Wrede,  who  had  served  so 
long  under  Napoleon,  opposed  the  French  in  a 
strong  position  at  Hanau,  with  such  a  strong 
force  that  the  Emperor  seemed  to  be  lost.  But 
the  Guard  bitterly  attacked  them,  and  opened 
out  a  way  for  the  army.  General  Wrede  was 
severely  wounded. 

They  reached  Mayence  at  length  on  October 
31st.  It  was  the  last  time  that  Napoleon  halted 
in  this  town  with  his  troops,  as  he  had  so  often 
done  on  the  march  out  or  on  the  return  to  Paris. 
He  remained  there  six  days,  reorganised  his  army 
as  far  as  possible,  and  selected  the  troops  that 
were  to  defend  the  Rhine  and  the  frontiers  of 
France  as  the  Republic  had  determined  them. 
Macdonald  was  to  hold  the  river  at  Cologne, 
Marmont  at  Mayence,  and  Victor  at  Strassburg. 
The  Duke  of  Valmy,  the  aged  Marshal  Kellermann, 
was  sent  to  Metz  to  drill  the  recruits.  The  rest 
of  the  army  was  distributed  within  these  limits. 

On  November  9th,  the  Emperor  was  back  at 
St.  Cloud.  It  was  a  much  worse  return  than 
that  from  Russia  in  the  previous  year,  and  now 
the  time  was  shorter ;  his  enemies  were  not  far 
away.  He  worked  as  he  had  never  done  before, 
and  was  on  his  feet  night  and  day.  But  Paris  was 


292  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

now  the  goal  of  the  Allied  princes.  They  carried 
on  a  pretence  of  negotiations  in  order  to  deceive 
Napoleon,  but  they  had  a  complete  understanding 
with  each  other.  They  would  have  nothing  more 
to  do  with  him.  He  was  to  be  exterminated. 

Field-marshal  Schwartzenberg  was  to  advance 
from  Switzerland,  and  General  Bubna  to  follow 
him.  Bliicher  was  to  wait  for  their  invasion,  and 
then  cross  the  Rhine  at  Mannheim.  Bernadotte 
was  to  invade  Holland.  There  was  nothing  left 
of  Napoleon  behind  this  line ;  except  that  Rapp 
held  Dantzig,  and  Davoust  Hamburg. 

On  November  llth,  Marshal  St.  Cyr  capitu- 
lated with  the  30,000  men  that  Napoleon  had 
left  at  Dresden,  on  the  condition  that  he  should 
be  free  to  draw  off.  He  has  been  a  good  deal 
blamed  for  his  capitulation.  But  Schwartzenberg, 
contrary  to  all  law  and  precedent,  refused  to 
recognise  it,  and  led  the  whole  corps  to  Austria 
as  prisoners  of  war.  On  November  21st  Stettin 
had  to  surrender  after  an  eight  months'  siege. 
On  November  24th  General  Biilow  entered  Am- 
sterdam, and  proclaimed  the  House  of  Orange. 
On  December  2nd  Utrecht  fell.  On  the  4th  the 
Swedes  were  in  Liibeck.  In  the  end  everything 
had  been  taken  back  from  France,  and  it  had  not 
a  single  ally  amongst  the  Powers.  Even  faithful 
Denmark  was  forced  to  sign  peace  with  Russia. 

Davoust  alone  stubbornly  held  Hamburg 
and  kept  the  gates  closed. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

All  the  experts  on  war  are  agreed  that  Napo- 
leon never  showed  himself  a  greater  leader  than 
in  the  struggles  that  he  conducted  between  Paris 
and  the  eastern  frontier  in  the  three  months  of 
1814.  That  he  continued  to  oppose  his  last 
troops  to  a  hopelessly  overwhelming  force,  despite 
all  sound  reason,  is  a  proof  of  the  inflexible  self- 
confidence  of  this  unique  man.  But  that  the 
others  should  cling  to  him  after  all  that  had 
happened,  and  spend  their  last  energies  as  brave 
and  honourable  men,  only  shows  that  their  whole 
life  and  thought  were  full  of  the  man.  There 
was  scarcely  one  of  them  who  did  not  understand 
that  every  day  of  fighting  now  was  a  loss  to  France 
and  a  criminal  waste  of  human  lives.  But 
one  man  held  them  all  in  his  hand,  and  they 
fought  and  fought,  day  after  day,  without  hope, 
but  so  bravely,  in  pure  devotion  to  their  leader, 
that  the  Allies  were  often  in  serious  trouble. 

On  January  23rd  the  Emperor  signed  a  docu- 
ment conveying  the  regency  to  the  Empress.  He 
entrusted  the  protection  of  the  capital  to  his 


294  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

brother,  King  Joseph.  Embracing  Marie  Louise 
and  the  little  King  of  Rome  for  the  last  time,  he 
went  to  his  headquarters  at  Chalons-sur-Marne. 
Battles  now  followed  each  other  in  quick  succes- 
sion. They  were  nearly  always  victories  where 
the  Emperor  was,  but  there  were  also  failures. 
Indeed,  one  was  as  little  use  as  the  other,  because 
they  all  reduced  the  strength  of  his  shrunken  army. 

Meantime  the  Allies  held  a  congress  at  Cha- 
tillon,  and  Napoleon's  envoy,  the  Duke  of  Vicenza, 
did  his  best  to  secure  tolerable  terms.  But  Napo- 
leon had  not  learned  prudence  from  misfortune  ; 
after  a  victory  he  would  put  up  his  claims  so  high 
that  they  only  laughed  at  him.  When  he  did 
badly,  he  was  for  continuing  the  struggle.  It 
was  impossible  for  him  to  acknowledge  defeat. 
There  was  a  fight  at  Brienne  on  January  29th,  at 
La  Rothiere  on  February  2nd,  and  at  Champaubert 
on  the  10th.  On  February  17th  Napoleon  had 
instructed  Marshal  Victor  to  occupy  the  village  of 
Montereau  near  Fontainebleau.  But  the  Marshal 
did  not  carry  out  the  order  with  his  customary 
precision,  and  when  he  arrived  there,  on  Feb- 
ruary 18th,  the  opportunity  was  gone,  and  the  Wiir- 
tembergers  were  in  occupation. 

Napoleon  was  beside  himself.  He  took  away 
the  Marshal's  command,  and  gave  it  to  Girard, 
swearing  that  he  would  dismiss  Victor  from  the 
army.  The  Marshal,  who  had  lost  his  son-in-law 
in  the  battle,  replied  with  tears  in  his  eyes  that 
he  would  not  leave  the  army.  He  would  rather 
take  a  musket  and  fight  in  the  ranks.  The 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  295 

Emperor's  anger  died  away  at  once.  He  gave  the 
Duke  the  command  over  a  part  of  the  Guard,  and 
invited  him  to  his  table.  General  Gouyot,  who 
had  survived  Vandamme's  defeat  at  Kulm,  was 
also  scolded  by  the  Emperor,  because  his  men 
had  lost  two  guns.  Napoleon  angrily  flung  his 
hat  on  the  ground,  and  ordered  General  Exelmans 
to  take  over  the  command.  A  little  later,  however, 
when  the  fight  over  Montereau  developed  into  a 
pitched  battle,  he  gave  General  Gouyot  the  com- 
mand over  the  four  squadrons  that  formed  his 
bodyguard. 

It  was  at  Montereau  that  Napoleon,  in  the 
thick  of  the  fire,  said  to  the  gunners  who  begged 
him  to  go  away  :  '  Be  quiet.  The  ball  is  not 
made  yet  that  will  hit  me.'  In  the  end  the  Wiir- 
tembergers  suffered  a  decisive  defeat,  as  they 
deserved.  General  Chateau,  Victor's  son-in-law, 
was  fatally  wounded  owing  to  an  accident  in  the 
blowing  up  of  a  bridge,  and  General  Pajol  had 
another  mishap ;  he  fell  under  his  horse. 

On  the  same  day,  February  18th,  Macdonald 
and  Oudinot  drove  Generals  Wrede  and  Wittgen- 
stein before  them  at  such  an  extraordinary  pace 
that  the  French  marshals  were  able  to  sit  at  the 
tables  prepared  for  their  opponents.  They  found 
the  hot  dishes  still  smoking  and  the  table  decorated 
with  laurel.  This  victory  at  Montereau  inspirited 
Napoleon  to  such  an  extent  that  when  Adjutant 
Rumigny  came  for  the  fourth  time  with  dispatches 
from  the  Congress  at  Chatillon,  he  merely  told 
him  to  take  his  compliments  to  the  Bourbons. 


296  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

The  Allied  princes  were  in  full  retreat  for  a 
moment  after  the  battle  of  Montereau,  and  Paris 
again  received  a  gift  of  captured  flags.  But 
the  net  was  drawn  close  once  more.  Bliicher, 
especially,  dragged  along  the  Austrians  and  Rus- 
sians, and  inexorably  sought  his  revenge  for  Jena 
and  Auerstadt.  The  town  of  Soissons,  an  ex- 
tremely important  point  in  the  fight  over  the 
retreat,  was  shamelessly  surrendered  by  a  French 
general  of  the  name  of  Moreau.  Marshal  Auge- 
reau,  always  worthless,  now  completely  deserted 
Napoleon's  interests,  and  kept  his  army  corps 
hi  idleness  at  Lyons.  Even  Napoleon's  faithful 
friend  Savary,  Duke  of  Rovigo,  lost  courage. 
Talleyrand  had  his  treacherous  plans  ready,  and 
waited  quietly  for  the  inevitable  end. 

On  March  5th  there  was  a  vigorous  fight  at 
Craonne.  Ney  and  Victor  with  the  infantry, 
Grouchy  and  Nansouty  with  the  cavalry,  all  more 
or  less  wounded,  and  General  Belliard,  who  had 
succeeded  Murat  in  the  command  of  the  cavalry, 
drove  the  enemy  out  of  Craonne,  with  the  help 
of  Drouot's  guns.  But  it  was  a  sombre  victory. 
Everybody  about  Napoleon  knew  that  the  end 
was  near.  Soldiers  and  statesmen  alike  looked 
to  Chatillon,  where,  they  all  felt,  the  fate  of  France 
and  their  own  fate  were  to  be  decided. 

Amongst  the  Allies,  however,  there  was  a 
feverish  anxiety  to  reach  Paris.  The  Emperor 
Francis,  King  Frederic  William,  and  the  Tsar 
Alexander,  in  whose  capitals  Napoleon  had  so 
often  resided,  wanted  to  enjoy  their  revenge. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  297 

Many  wanted  to  see  once  more  the  city  in  which 
they  had  spent  a  part  of  their  gay  youth  at  one 
of  the  finest  courts  in  Europe.  But  the  fortune 
of  war  swung  to  and  fro.  They  were  seized  with 
a  sudden  panic  when  the  dreadful  man  once  came 
right  upon  them.  The  Tsar  said  that  half  his 
hair  had  turned  white  in  one  night. 

On  March  20th,  in  the  course  of  a  battle  at 
Arcis,  the  Emperor  made  his  horse  step  over  a 
shell  that  had  just  fallen.  Exelmans  wanted  to 
warn  him,  but  Sebastiani  prevented  him. 

'  Don't  you  see  that  he  is  doing  it  on  purpose,' 
he  said.  '  He  wants  to  make  an  end  of  it.'  But 
when  the  shower  of  soil  and  stones  had  settled 
down,  the  Emperor  was  sitting  unhurt  on  his 
horse. 

After  a  masterly  retreat  from  Arcis,  the 
Emperor  did  not  think  that  the  Allies  would  dare 
to  slip  past  him  toward  Paris.  This  time,  however, 
they  plucked  up  courage,  and  marched  after 
Marmont  and  Mortier,  who  were  attacked  by 
an  overwhelming  force  at  Fere-Champenoise. 
Generals  Pacthod  and  Amey  had  a  disproportion- 
ately large  number  of  transport  waggons  in  their 
divisions,  which  they  were  to  protect.  This  long 
train  of  waggons  led  the  Allied  generals  greatly 
to  overrate  the  strength  of  the  enemy,  and,  anxious 
as  they  always  were,  they  resolved  to  attack  in 
full  strength.  The  whole  of  the  combined  cavalry 
was  therefore  sent  into  action,  and  so  suddenly 
that  the  princes  with  their  general  staffs  had  not 
time  to  get  out  of  the  way.  They  had  to  put 


298  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

their  horses  to  the  gallop,  and  join  in  the  onslaught 
or  else  be  ridden  down.  In  two  minutes  the 
Emperor  Alexander  and  the  King  of  Prussia  were 
in  the  midst  of  the  French  columns,  surrounded  on 
all  sides  by  the  swarm  of  16,000  horse — Russians, 
Prussians  and  Austrians,  dragoons,  uhlans,  hus- 
sars and  Cossacks. 

'  Never  in  my  life,'  says  Count  Roche- 
chouart,  '  shall  I  see  such  a  medley  again.  I  was 
hardly  able  to  tell  what  was  going  on,  and  in  a 
moment  it  was  all  passed.'  The  small  French 
army  that  was  routed  at  Fere-Champenoise  con- 
sisted mainly  of  young  recruits,  still  wearing  their 
blouses  and  peasant's  dress.  Generals  Pacthod, 
Amey,  Jamin,  and  Thevenot  were  taken  prisoners. 

On  March  28th,  the  Emperor  learned  at  St. 
Didier  that  the  Allies  were  before  Paris.  He 
mounted  his  horse  and  set  off  at  full  gallop.  He 
still  believed  he  could  defend  Paris  ;  |certainly 
he  did  not  think  for  a  moment  of  surrendering 
or  losing  courage.  The  remains  of  the  French 
armies  concentrated  on  Paris,  the  Allies  following 
closely  in  their  steps.  They  fought  many  a  good 
battle,  and  kept  the  enemy  off,  and  on  March  29th, 
they  found  themselves  under  Montmartre  and 
the  outer  walls.  The  last  battle  was  round 
Paris,  and  Marshals  Mortier  and  Marmont  carried 
the  desperate  struggle  to  its  conclusion  on  March 
29th  and  30th.  They  had  only  30,000  men,  with  the 
reinforcements  they  found  at  Paris.  Neither 
King  Joseph  nor  the  Minister  of  War,  Clarke,  had 
done  anything  for  the  defence  of  the  city,  though 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  299 

they  had  had  plenty  of  time  and  opportunity  to 
do  so.  The  Minister  had  even  hesitated  to  dis- 
tribute 20,000  new  weapons  that  were  in  the 
arsenal.  He  was  preparing  to  desert. 

At  twelve  o'clock  on  March  29th  one  could  see 
the  foreign  troops  from  the  hill  of  Montmartre, 
and  King  Joseph  sent  orders  to  the  marshals  to 
surrender  Paris.  Marmont,  who  received  the 
order,  put  it  in  his  pocket.  There  had  been  a 
council  at  the  Tuileries.  The  dignitaries  of  the 
Empire,  the  ministers,  King  Joseph,  and  the 
Empress  Marie  Louise,  were  all  agreed  that  the 
Regent  ought  to  leave  Paris  with  the  young  heir 
to  the  throne.  Talleyrand  alone  held  to  the  last 
that  the  Empress  ought  to  remain  in  the  capital 
and  continue  the  regency  which  the  Emperor 
had  settled  on  her  with  full  powers.  He  had  long 
made  his  own  plans  as  to  the  Allies  and  the  Bour- 
bons, and  it  would  have  been  a  triumph  for  him 
if  he  had  been  able  to  present  at  once  to  the 
Emperor  Francis  his  daughter  and  the  young 
prince.  The  others,  however,  had  not  provided 
for  themselves  so  prudently,  and  they  accompanied 
the  Empress  to  Blois. 

Talleyrand  went  home  and  packed  up.  But 
he  took  so  much  time  to  do  it  that,  when  he  at 
last  reached  the  barrier  in  the  evening  in  his  car- 
riage, the  guards  prevented  him  from  leaving  the 
city.  He  was  taken  back  to  his  palace  under  a 
sort  of  arrest.  His  rooms  became  the  centre  for 
all  that  was  left  of  Paris.  The  Tsar  took  up  his 
residence  in  the  Hotel  Talleyrand.  The  old  spider 


300  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

sat  in  the  middle  of  his  fine,  strong  web,  and  held 
all  its  threads. 

Marmont  had  said  nothing  to  Mortier  about 
King  Joseph's  order,  which  he  kept  in  his  pocket, 
but  he  concluded  an  armistice,  and  Mortier  joined 
him.  After  an  heroic  defence,  the  marshals 
withdrew  to  Fontainebleau,  and  left  Paris  open 
to  the  enemy.  Compans,  Arrighi,  Ricard,  Christi- 
ani,  Curial  and  Lagrange  were  the  last  generals 
to  lead  divisions  against  the  whole  of  armed 
Europe. 

The  Emperor  had  sent  on  General  Dejean  to 
announce  that  he  was  coming  to  Paris.  He  had 
marched  forty-five  miles  that  day  with  the  Guard, 
and  arrived  at  Troyes.  On  the  morning  of  March 
3rd  he  was  again  in  the  saddle,  and  by  ten  in  the 
evening  he  was  close  to  the  city.  He  was  changing 
horses  on  the  road  for  the  last  time  when  General 
Belliard  told  him  that  Paris  had  capitulated,  and 
he  himself  was  engaged  in  removing  the  cavalry 
from  the  capital. 

The  Emperor  listened  to  him  in  silence. 

*  Well,'  he  said  at  last,  *  we  must  get  on  to 
Paris.' 

*  But,  sire,  there  are  no  troops  in  Paris.' 

*  That    doesn't    matter.      I    shall    find    the 
National  Guard.     My  army  will  concentrate  to- 
morrow.    Follow   me   with   the   whole   of   your 
cavalry.' 

*  Your    Majesty,'    Belliard    answered,   '  will 
only  succeed  in  being  taken  prisoner  and  witness- 
ing the  looting  of  the  city.     It  is  surrounded  by 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

130,000  men.  In  order  to  get  away  from  it,  I 
have  myself  had  to  engage  not  to  return  to  it.' 

*  Six  hours  too  late  and  everything  lost !  ' 
cried  the  Emperor.  He  went  inside,  and  sat  in 
a  small  chair  in  the  little  post-house  on  the  road, 
and  at  last  fell  into  a  deep  sleep. 

During  the  advance  of  the  Allies  into  Prance 
the  Crown-Prince  of  Sweden  had  led  the  army 
corps  in  the  extreme  north.  The  princes  had  not 
much  confidence  in  him,  and  preferred  to  keep 
him  at  a  distance.  He  himself  felt  all  along  how 
weak  his  position  was.  While  he  was  pushing 
westwards  through  the  north  of  Germany,  he 
annexed  all  the  estates  that  had  been  given  by 
Napoleon  to  his  former  comrades  in  arms.  But 
he  was  still  so  unsafe,  and  so  used  to  keeping 
every  road  open,  that  he  continued  to  intrigue  on 
all  sides,  and  was  ready  to  betray  anybody  or  any- 
thing to  retain  his  kingly  dignity.  When  he  had 
to  invade  Flanders,  which  was  defended  by  his 
old  comrade,  General  Maison,  he  gave  a  written 
promise  to  disarm  the  Prussians  under  him  and 
go  over  to  the  French  with  his  Swedish  troops, 
if  the  Emperor  Napoleon  would  give  him  a  written 
guarantee  of  his  royal  dignity  in  Sweden  or  some 
other  kingdom.  Napoleon  agreed,  but  on  con- 
dition that  King  Joseph  signed  the  declaration, 
and  the  negotiations  fell  through.  However, 
Napoleon  had  taken  Bernadotte's  letter  from 
General  Maison,  and  he  afterwards  put  it  in  the 
hands  of  the  Emperor  Alexander.  That  was  the 
source  of  the  ill-feeling  against  the  Crown  Prince 


302  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

and  later  King  of  Sweden,  and  the  conspicuous 
coldness  of  the  other  European  courts  to  the  house 
of  Bernadotte.  Still,  there  were  plenty  of  other 
reasons. 

Bernadotte  also  tried  to  enter  into  corre- 
spondence with  Carnot,  but  the  honourable  soldier, 
then  holding  Antwerp,  said  to  the  intermediary  : 
*  I  was  a  friend  of  the  French  General  Bernadotte, 
but  I  am  no  friend  of  the  foreign  prince  who 
bears  arms  against  his  country.'  But  the  worst 
of  all  is,  perhaps,  the  proclamation  that  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Sweden  sent  over  the  French 
frontier,  when  the  Allied  armies  were  approaching. 
In  this  it  is  threatened,  in  the  name  of  a  French 
hero  who  had  once  fought  for  the  honour  of  France, 
that  the  whole  population  will  be  sacrificed  to 
the  vengeance  of  the  Cossacks  if  there  is  any 
resistance. 

On  April  1st  Napoleon  was  still  thinking  of 
marching  on  Paris.  He  rode  from  Fontainebleau 
to  Essonne  and  inspected  Marmont's  corps,  which 
was  quartered  there,  and  consisted  of  fine,  effective 
troops.  He  spoke  to  Marmont  for  the  last  time. 

On  April  2nd  he  mustered  his  own  Guard  in  the 
large  courtyard  in  front  of  the  palace  of  Fontaine- 
bleau, as  cool  and  quiet  as  ever.  The  Duke  of 
Vicenza  came  with  bad  news  from  Paris,  yet  the 
Emperor  continued  to  talk  of  fresh  battles.  In 
reality  he  now  had,  if  he  collected  all  the  divisions 
that  were  faithful  to  him,  the  following  troops : 
Soult  and  Suchet  in  Spain,  General  Grenier  in 
Italy,  and  all  the  fortresses  in  FrTOQfi  Micl  Italy. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  303 

These  were  forces  enough  for  a  frightful  civil  war, 
and  it  might  have  ended  in  putting  him  on  the 
throne  once  more.  He  collected  his  Guard  and 
made  them  swear  that  the  enemy  should  be  driven 
out  of  Paris.  In  the  course  of  the  night,  in  fact, 
they  marched  some  distance  toward  the  capital. 

April  3rd  was  the  day  of  his  fall.  The  troops 
at  Yvonne,  under  Marshals  Oudinot  and  Mac- 
donald,  declared  that  in  the  circumstances  they 
would  refuse  to  advance  on  Paris.  Macdonald 
offered  to  take  the  news  to  the  Emperor,  and 
rode  to  Fontainebleau.  Meantime,  the  highest 
officers  about  Napoleon  held  a  deliberation,  and, 
with  the  Prince  of  Moskwa  at  their  head,  they 
went  to  the  Emperor's  room  and  asked  him  to 
abdicate.  At  the  same  time  Marmont's  unfor- 
tunate treachery  was  taking  place  at  another  spot. 

The  following  morning  his  dispirited  officers 
once  more  assembled  in  Napoleon's  room.  There 
were  Berthier,  Caulaincourt,  Moncey,  Maret,  Lefe- 
bvre  and  Ney.  The  Emperor  tried  several  times 
to  draw  up  a  deed  of  abdication,  and  in  the  mean- 
time Marshal  Macdonald  came  with  his  news. 
The  Emperor  then  turned  to  the  circle  of  officers, 
and  asked  them  if  they  would  support  his  son 
They  all  answered  in  the  affirmative,  Macdonald 
doing  so  with  particular  warmth.  He  selected 
Caulaincourt,  Ney  and  Marmont  to  convey  his 
abdication  and  treat  for  him  with  the  Allied 
princes  at  Paris.  But  shortly  afterwards  he 
replaced  Marmont  with  Macdonald,  although  at 
that  time  he  could  know  nothing  of  Marmont's 
defection. 


304  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Napoleon's  first  abdication  ran  thus  :  '  As 
the  Allied  Powers  have  announced  in  their  procla- 
mation that  the  Emperor  Napoleon  is  the  sole 
obstacle  to  the  re-establishment  of  peace  in  Europe, 
the  Emperor  Napoleon — true  to  the  oath  he  has 
taken — declares  himself  ready  to  give  up  the 
throne,  France,  and  even  life,  for  the  good  of  his 
country,  without  any  prejudice,  however,  to  the 
rights  of  his  son,  the  regency  of  the  Empress,  or 
the  laws  of  the  Empire.' 

The  Duke  of  Vicenza  and  the  two  marshals 
were  dispatched  with  this  document.  But  at 
the  last  moment  Napoleon  said  half-aside  to  Mac- 
donald :  *  Come,  and  let  us  attack  them  to- 
morrow. We  shall  beat  them  ! '  The  marshal 
pretended  not  to  hear  him. 

Marmont  was  born  in  1774,  and  died  in  1852. 
He  lived  longest  of  all  Napoleon's  marshals.  He 
had  been  with  General  Bonaparte  from  Toulon 
onwards.  He  had  won  distinction  everywhere— 
in  Italy,  Malta,  Egypt,  at  the  crossing  of  the  Alps 
in  1799,  at  Marengo,  and  in  Dalmatia,  where  he 
took  Ragusa,  from  which  he  had  his  ducal  title. 
He  came  to  Wagram  the  day  before  the  battle, 
and  beat  the  Austrians  on  his  own  account  at 
Znaim.  He  was  then  made  marshal  and  governor 
of  Illyria,  and  Napoleon  honoured  and  rewarded 
him  above  all  the  others.  If  there  could  be  any 
question  at  all  of  favourites  with  Napoleon,  it 
would  certainly  be  Junot  and  Marmont.  But 
while  Napoleon  showed  his  favouring  of  Junot  by 
always — or  at  least  for  a  long  time — being  indul- 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  305 

gent  to  him,  his  relation  to  Marmont  was  very 
different.  He  appreciated  the  great  military 
gifts  of  the  young  officer,  and  regarded  them  with 
gratification.  Marmont  matured  under  the  Em- 
peror's own  eyes  and  leadership  more  than  any 
of  the  others.  Hence  we  can  understand  that 
the  Emperor  had  a  certain  tenderness  for  him. 

This  did  not  prevent  him  from  being  just  as 
hard  and  cold  towards  Marmont  in  the  service 
as  toward  any  of  the  others.  After  the  battle  of 
Montebello,  Bonaparte  sent  his  brother  Joseph 
to  offer  Marmont  the  hand  of  Pauline.  When 
the  family  began  to  rise,  she  was  always  offered 
when  any  man  was  to  be  honoured.  But  it  seems 
that  several  declined  her,  and  at  all  events  Mar- 
mont did  so.  When  Napoleon  was  at  a  safe  dis- 
tance, he  married  a  wealthy  lady  at  Paris,  Mile. 
Peregeaux.  His  wife  was  much  attached  to  him 
at  first,  but  she  was  foolish  and  perverse.  The 
long  separations,  which  were  fatal  to  so  many 
marriages  at  that  time,  led  her  to  be  unfaithful, 
and  she  eventually  gave  him  a  very  unhappy  time. 
When  Marmont  had  to  go  to  Portugal  in  1810 
to  relieve  Massena,  the  Emperor  said  to  him : 
'  When  the  Spanish  Peninsula  is  taken  it  will  be 
divided  into  five  kingdoms,  each  with  a  viceroy 
at  its  head.  They  will  have  courts  and  the  honours 
of  royalty.  One  of  these  kingdoms  is  for  you, 
so  go  and  take  it.'  When  Napoleon  was  speaking 
in  1813  of  the  foreign  officers  who  went  over  to 
the  enemy  in  the  field  with  their  troops  in  the 
Saxon  campaign,  he  drew  a  distinction  between 
u 


306  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

a  conscientious  man  and  a  man  of  honour,  and 
said,  turning  to  Marmont  :  '  If,  for  instance,  the 
enemy  had  taken  France  and  were  in  possession 
of  the  heights  of  Montmartre,  and  you  thought 
— perhaps  rightly — that  the  good  of  the  country 
demanded  that  you  should  abandon  me,  you 
might  be  a  good  Frenchman,  and  a  brave  and 
conscientious  man,  if  you  did  it,  but  you  would 
not  be  a  man  of  honour.' 

Marshal  Marmont,  who  relates  this  himself 
in  his  memoirs,  adds  quite  coolly  :  '  I  was  destined 
to  recall  these  words  afterwards  at  Essonne.' 
He  had  been  one  of  the  best  fighters  in  the  Saxon 
campaign — at  Liitzen,  Bautzen,  Wurschen,  Dres- 
den and  Leipzig — and  at  the  very  end  he  had 
defended  Paris  heroically  with  Mortier.  Then  he 
suddenly  changed,  and  became  one  of  the  most 
ungrateful  to  Napoleon.  While  his  corps  was 
marching  round  the  city  from  Montmartre  to 
Essonne,  which  was  on  the  way  to  Fontainebleau, 
Marmont  rode  to  his  palace  in  Paris.  Covered 
with  blood  and  dirt  as  he  was  after  several  days 
fighting,  he  would  very  well  need  a  wash  and  the 
barber,  and  a  little  rest.  But  he  was  at  once 
visited  by  envoys  from  Talleyrand,  who  was  work- 
ing assiduously  for  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon, 
and  who  would  like  to  be  able  to  offer  the  Allies 
a  marshal  like  Marmont,  commanding  an  army 
corps  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Paris. 

Talleyrand  had  chosen  Bourienne,  the  former 
private  secretary  of  Napoleon,  and  an  intimate 
friend  of  Marmont' s,  as  his  agent.  Marmont 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  307 

refused  all  appeals,  declaring  that  he  would  die 
by  the  side  of  his  Emperor.  In  this  mood  he  left 
Paris  and  rejoined  his  corps  at  Essonne.  But  on 
the  following  day,  April  3rd,  the  secessionists  sent 
messenger  after  messenger  to  him,  and  at  last  he 
began  to  move,  and  entered  into  negotiations 
with  Prince  Schwartzenberg's  agents.  It  was 
agreed  that  his  corps  should  march  through  the 
lines  of  the  Allies. 

As  Caulaincourt  and  the  two  marshals  passed 
by  Essonne  on  their  way  to  Paris  with  Napoleon's 
abdication,  Marmont  confessed  what  he  had  done 
to  his  three  old  comrades,  and  seemed  to  be  in 
great  perplexity.  He  had  brought  his  generals 
together  early  that  morning  (April  4th),  and  found 
them  nearly  all  willing  to  join  in  his  defection. 
But  now  that  he  met  the  Emperor's  envoys  he 
was  ashamed,  and  asked  that  he  might  be  allowed 
to  accompany  them  to  Paris  ;  he  hid  himself  in 
the  carriage.  He  left  word  to  his  officers  to  do 
nothing  until  they  had  explicit  orders  from  him. 

Meantime,  Napoleon,  who  had  no  suspicion  of 
what  was  going  on,  sent  a  messenger  to  Essonne 
asking  Marmont  to  come  to  Fontainebleau,  as  he 
wished  to  speak  to  him.  Marmont' s  generals 
took  this  as  an  indication  that  they  had  been 
betrayed.  They  became  anxious,  and,  without 
waiting  for  further  orders,  they  marched  during 
the  night  through  the  lines  of  the  Allies,  which 
were  opened  to  them  as  had  been  agreed.  General 
Souham  led  them.  He  had  never  been  a  friend 
of  Napoleon  ;  but  the  brave  Compans  and  his 


308  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

splendid  division  were  also  in  the  march.  Colonel 
Fabrier  rode  with  all  speed  to  Paris  to  inform 
Marmont,  and  he  promised  to  come  in  an  hour ; 
but  before  the  hour  was  up  another  officer  came 
from  Essonne  to  say  that  all  the  rest  of  Marmont'a 
corps  was  on  the  march.  The  Poles  alone  re- 
mained faithful  to  the  Emperor.  They  rode  to 
Versailles  under  General  Ordener,  to  join  the  regi- 
ments at  Rambouillet  that  had  not  gone  over  to 
the  enemy.  But  Marmont  had  now  fallen  so  far 
into  the  power  of  the  tempters  that  he  galloped 
to  Versailles  and  forced  his  men  to  leave  General 
Ordener  and  the  Emperor's  party  and  go  over  to 
the  Allies. 

Marmont's  defection  is  not  merely  noteworthy 
for  the  ingratitude  it  evinces  ;  ingratitude  is  not 
so  rare.  But  it  shows  how  insecure  the  men 
felt  themselves  who  accompanied  Napoleon  in 
his  adventurous  rise.  As  soon  as  the  old  society 
appeared,  in  the  old  forms  and  names  and  places, 
the  life  of  the  last  twenty  years  melted  away 
like  a  dream  ;  like  children  awakening  from  a 
dream,  men  grasped  the  familiar  hand  that 
was  stretched  out  to  them. 

Meantime,  the  three  envoys  were  admitted 
to  the  King  of  Prussia,  who  was  rude,  and  to  the 
Tsar  Alexander,  who  was  charming  and  hollow. 
But  while  they  were  still  dallying  over  the  abdica- 
tion, a  messenger  came  with  the  news  of  the 
defection  of  Marmont's  whole  corps.  As  the  news 
was  communicated  in  a  loud  whisper  to  the  Tsar, 
who  was  rather  deaf,  he  repeated :  '  Totus 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  309 

corpus  ! '  and  all  who  were  in  the  room  knew  that 
it  was  Marmont's  corps.  They  must  have  spoken 
elegant  Latin  in  Russian  imperial  circles.  The 
intermediaries  then  received  the  abdication  back 
again  with  the  assurance  that  it  could  not  be  enter- 
tained unless  it  included  Napoleon's  family  and 
descendants. 

For  two  days  Napoleon  fought  against  the 
determination.  He  kept  to  his  room,  and  spoke 
alternately  of  retiring  to  Elba  and  of  marching 
to  destroy  the  Allies  and  free  Paris.  At  last,  on 
April  5th,  he  entirely  renounced  the  throne  of 
France  and  Italy  for  himself  and  his  descendants.  A 
treaty  was  drawn  up  by  the  Allies  in  this  sense  on 
the  llth,  and  brought  to  Napoleon  by  Caulain- 
court,  Schuvaloff  and  Macdonald.  Napoleon 
would  not  sign  it  that  day  (the  12th).  Those  about 
Napoleon  at  Fontainebleau  now  began  to  realize 
what  was  passing.  The  soldiers  would  have 
remained  faithful  to  their  great  leader  if  they 
had  been  left  to  themselves,  but  the  officers  began 
to  look  about  for  a  means  of  saving  themselves 
and  their  property  in  case  the  wreck  sank  ;  and 
the  more  they  had,  the  more  anxious  they  became. 
Marshal  Berthier,  Prince  of  Wagram  and  of 
Neuchatel,  loaded  with  riches,  honours,  glory, 
and  distinctions  of  all  sorts — and  all  from  the 
same  hand — came  to  the  Emperor's  room  and 
asked  permission  for  a  short  run  to  Paris.  He 
obtained  it,  bowed,  and  departed.  As  the  door 
closed  behind  him,  the  Emperor  said  quietly  and 
coldly :  *  He  will  not  come  back.'  He  was 


310  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

quite  right.  Berthier  went  to  Paris  to  submit,  and 
to  offer  his  services  to  the  provisional  government. 

On  April  12th  Napoleon's  appearance  was 
such  that  all  those  about  him  were  greatly  con- 
cerned. The  official  in  charge  of  his  cabinet, 
Turenne,  unloaded  the  pistols  in  his  bedroom. 
During  the  night  Napoleon  awakened  his  servant 
and  told  him  to  make  a  fire.  He  heard  the  Em- 
peror write  letters  and  tear  them  up  again.  At 
last  he  took  a  small  black  pouch  out  of  a  secret 
cavity  in  his  dressing-case,  emptied  it  into  a 
glass  of  water,  and  went  to  bed  !  We  do  not 
know  for  certain  whether  he  then  took  a  strong 
poison  that  he  had  had  in  Russia — in  a  signet, 
I  believe  ;  at  all  events  this  and  the  pouch  were 
empty  the  next  morning.  But  he  did  not  die  ; 
either  he  was  too  strong,  or  the  poison  was  too 
old.  He  awakened  his  Egyptian  servant  Ivan, 
who  came  and  assisted  him.  Ivan  then  went 
into  the  stall,  saddled  a  horse  and  rode  off,  and 
never  came  back  again. 

The  Emperor  was  up  at  eleven  the  next 
morning,  and  summoned  Marshal  Macdonald. 
It  was  in  these  days  of  trouble  that  Napoleon  first 
learned  to  appreciate  the  solid  qualities  and  fine 
character  of  this  man.  He  had  spent  a  bad 
night ;  his  face  was  pale  and  drawn,  like  that  of 
a  corpse,  and  his  eyes  sunk  back  deep  in  their 
sockets.  But  he  mastered  himself,  and  signed 
the  treatise  in  his  usual  hand.  He  then  thanked 
Macdonald  in  fine,  manly  words,  and  regretted  that 
he  had  only  just  learned  to  appreciate  him.  He 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  311 

sent  the  marshal,  as  a  memento,  Murad  Bey's 
splendid  Turkish  sabre,  which  he  had  himself 
taken  in  the  battle  of  Tabor. 

By  the  treaty  the  Emperor,  Empress,  and 
imperial  family  retained  their  rank  and  title. 
Elba  was  to  be  an  independent  kingdom  with  a 
revenue  of  two  millions — one  million  being  for 
the  Empress,  Marie  Louise.  She  also  received 
Parma,  Piacenza,  and  Guastalla,  the  Italian 
duchies  that  Napoleon's  sisters  had  held.  A 
million  was  settled  on  Josephine,  and  many  other 
settlements  were  made  on  Napoleon's  friends 
and  the  army  ;  but  it  is  sad  to  read  of  these  things, 
as  no  one  received  the  money  that  was  promised. 
On  April  10th  the  court  that  Marie  Louise  kept  at 
Blois  was  dispersed,  and  she  and  her  son  were 
sent  to  Vienna.  All  the  Bonapartes  fled  to 
Switzerland. 

At  last,  on  April  20th,  Napoleon  had  to  part 
from  the  army,  and  from  the  Guard.  They  were 
drawn  up  in  the  great  courtyard  at  Fontainebleau, 
and  he  came  down  the  steps  and  walked  slowly 
through  the  ranks.  There  were  still  faces  he  had 
seen  at  Arcole,  Aboukir,  Marengo,  Austerlitz, 
Jena,  Friedland,  Somo-Sierra,  Wagram  and  Mos- 
cow. The  whole  brilliant  history  of  his  career  was 
unfolded  about  him.  With  some  difficulty  he 
spoke  his  short  and  admirable  speech  : 

'  I  have  to  bid  you  farewell,  soldiers.  We 
have  been  together  for  twenty  years,  and  I  am 
proud  of  you.  I  have  always  seen  you  on  the 
path  of  honour.  Europe  has  turned  against  me, 


312  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

and  some  of  my  generals  have  been  untrue  to 
their  duty  and  their  country.  France  itself  would 
have  a  new  future.  I  might  have  fought  a  civil 
war  with  you  and  the  other  brave  men  who  have 
been  loyal  to  me  ;  but  France  would  have  suffered. 
Be  true  to  your  new  king,  listen  to  your  new 
chiefs.  Let  our  dear  country  never  lack  your 
arms.  Bemoan  not  my  fate.  I  shall  be  happy 
if  I  hear  that  you  are.  I  might  have  chosen 
death.  If  I  have  chosen  life,  it  is  to  enhance 
your  great  fame.  I  will  write  of  the  great  deeds 
we  have  done  together.  I  cannot  embrace  all 
of  you,  but  I  will  embrace  your  general.  Come, 
General  Pelet,  and  let  me  press  you  to  my 
breast.  Then  hand  me  the  eagle,  and  let  me  kiss 
it.  May  that  kiss  resound  in  the  days  to  come. 
Farewell,  my  children.  My  good  wishes  will 
ever  follow  you.  Bear  me  in  your  memories.' 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  hardened  soldiers 
and  the  man  of  marble  wept  as  they  stood  there 
to  take  farewell  in  the  old  courtyard  that  had  so 
often  rung  with  their  band  and  their  '  Vive 
f'Empereur.' 

During  the  journey  through  France  to  the 
south  there  was  danger  more  than  once  of  the 
excited  people  laying  hands  on  the  fallen  Emperor. 
But  on  May  3rd  he  reached  Porto  Ferrajo,  on  the 
island  of  Elba,  in  an  English  frigate.  His  suite 
consisted  of  Generals  Bertrand,  Drouot  and  Cam- 
bronne,  and  400  men  of  the  Guard.  His  mother 
and  Pauline  afterwards  joined  him.  His  faithful 
lover,  Countess  Walewska,  was  also  in  Elba.  His 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  313 

servants,  too,  were  there,  with  the  exception  of 
his  chamber-servant  Constant,  who  had  been 
with  him  many  years  ;  an  unfortunate  misunder- 
standing kept  him  away. 

Constant  tells  the  story  himself  as  follows. 
On  one  of  the  last  days  at  Fontainebleau  the 
Emperor  gave  him  a  draft  for  100,000  francs, 
and  told  him  to  convert  it  into  gold  and  hide  it. 
He  did  so,  and  hid  the  gold  in  his  garden  in  the 
belief  that  the  money  was  a  parting  gift  from  the 
Emperor  ;  and  in  view  of  the  freedom  with  which 
money  circulated  about  Napoleon  the  idea  was 
not  very  improbable.  Hence,  when  Constant 
put  his  accounts  before  General  Bertrand  on  the 
last  day  and  handed  over  all  monies  belonging 
to  the  Emperor  that  he  had,  he  made  no  mention 
of  the  100,000  francs.  Napoleon  told  Bertrand 
that  there  were  100,000  francs  short  in  Constant's 
accounts,  and  that  he  did  not  remember  having 
made  him  a  present  of  the  sum.  Pained  that 
the  Emperor  had  put  him  in  a  questionable  light 
to  Bertrand,  Constant  dug  up  the  money,  and 
handed  it  over ;  but  in  his  agitation  he  also 
begged  General  Bertrand  to  tell  the  Emperor 
that  he  had  left  his  service  and  was  not  going  to 
Elba. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  what  was  passing  in 
Napoleon's  mind  at  the  time.  It  is  unlike  him 
to  be  unjust  or  inconsiderate  to  his  servants. 
They  all  loved  him,  and  remained  with  him.  He 
afterwards  made  some  attempt  at  reconciliation, 
but  Constant  remained  obdurate. 


CHAPTER   IX 

It  was  clear  that  the  fall  of  Napoleon  was 
equivalent  to  the  reinstatement  of  the  legitimate 
royal  house.  Hence,  although  the  Allies  came  into 
Paris  as  enemies  and  conquerors,  there  was  a 
certain  air  of  festivity  about  their  entry.  In 
spite  of  the  Revolution  and  Napoleon  there  were 
still  many  who  were  loyal  to  the  old  house  ;  and 
ladies,  old  and  young,  came  out  with  flowers,  and 
court  was  paid  to  the  foreign  princes,  the  Tsar 
especially  being  honoured  in  certain  circles  at 
Paris.  He  was  not  unwilling  to  receive  their 
homage,  though  his  wild  soldiers  were  doing  more 
than  all  the  other  foreign  troops  to  ravage  Paris 
and  the  north  of  France. 

Meantime,  the  foreign  princes  had  to  return 
to  their  countries  and  restore  order  everywhere. 
Some  of  them  pondered  with  alarm  on  all  they 
had  endured  in  the  way  of  songs  and  speeches 
during  the  so-called  '  wars  of  freedom.'  It  was 
quite  time  to  put  a  stop  to  all  this.  Moreover, 
the  boundary-stones  of  Europe  had  to  be  shifted 
back  to  their  old  positions.  They  were  all  mixed 
up  after  the  doings  of  this  terrible  man.  A  great 
congress  was  fixed  for  June  20th  at  Vienna. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  315 

As  soon  as  all  danger  was  over  the  Bourbons 
swarmed  in  with  their  hungry  flocks  of  emigrants, 
stout  King  Louis  XVIII  at  their  head.  The 
times  were  changed  at  a  stroke.  The  Tuileries 
was  filled  with  new  faces,  the  faces  of  old  families 
that  had  not  been  seen  there  for  twenty  or  thirty 
years.  Instead  of  the  noisy  officers  with  swords 
and  spurs  echoing  through  the  rooms,  one 
now  saw  discreet,  bewigged  courtiers  in  ancient 
dress,  or  young  dandies  who  had  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  banishment.  Instead  of  the  Emperor 
walking  into  the  rooms  with  short,  firm  step,  with 
close  silk  hose  and  shoes,  or  glittering  cavalry 
boots  with  a  slight  jingle  of  spurs,  one  now  saw 
the  adipose  Bourbon  moving  ponderously  about 
with  huge  purple  velvet  slippers  on  his  gouty  feet. 

If  we  would  understand  the  attitude  in  1814 
of  the  men  who  had  worked  with  Napoleon,  we 
must — knowing  what  happened  afterwards — for- 
get the  Hundred  Days,  and  imagine  that  the  first 
return  of  the  Bourbons  was  the  definitive  close  of 
Napoleon's  career.  On  this  supposition  it  seemed 
quite  natural  to  numbers  of  officers  to  remain  in 
their  positions  and  take  the  oath  to  the  new  head 
of  the  State.  One  was  in  the  service  of  France 
just  as  before,  and  was  ready  to  fight  its  enemies 
under  the  generals  appointed  by  the  government 
In  this  way  Marshals  Macdonald,  Oudinot  and 
Lefebvre  could  retain  their  commands  under  the 
King  without  any  scruple.  So  also  Victor,  St.  Cyr, 
Kellermann,  Maison  and  Lauriston,  and  a  large 
number  of  officers,  went  over  to  the  Bourbons 
while  Napoleon  was  in  Elba. 


316  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

But  there  were  some  who  had  been  in  such 
close  personal  touch  with  Napoleon  that  they  found 
it  impossible  to  serve  under  another  prince. 
Amongst  these  were  the  Viceroy  Eugene,  Napo- 
leon's cousin  Arrighi,  and  Sebastiani,  Generals 
Mouton,  Savary,  Cambronne,  Grouchy,  and  many 
others.  The  Bourbons  were  ready  to  receive  the 
distinguished  men,  especially  Napoleon's  less  loyal 
friends.  They  needed  them  for  several  reasons. 
But  however  eager  they  were  to  attach  a  man 
who  had  won  European  fame,  they  were  just  as 
merciless  to  the  lower  officers  and  the  common 
soldiers.  Wherever  they  found  it  possible  to 
disturb  and  displace  what  had  been  respected  in 
France  for  the  last  twenty  years,  they  set  to  work 
with  the  petty  malice  that  was  characteristic  of 
the  family.  The  army  was  flooded  with  elderly 
generals  who  knew  nothing,  and  did  not  want  to 
know  anything,  about  its  new  organization,  its 
glory,  and  its  traditions.  The  young  nobles  had 
grown  up  abroad  in  a  disdainful  contempt  of 
Napoleon,  his  army,  and  everything  he  did. 

They  at  once  chose  as  Minister  of  War  the 
man  who  had  the  worst  reputation  in  the  army 
— General  Dupont,  who  had  capitulated  at  Baylen. 
An  immense  number  of  subordinate  officers  were 
dismissed,  and  were  replaced  by  lackeys  and  other 
useless  people.  Three  thousand  veterans  of  the 
republican  and  imperial  wars  were  driven  out  of 
the  Hotel  des  Invalides,  where  they  had  found 
refuge,  and  were  forced  to  wander  over  the  country 
as  crippled  mendicants.  Their  place  was  occupied 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  317 

by  old  royal  servants  from  La  Vendee,  who  had 
opposed  the  Revolution  and  Napoleon  as  long  as 
possible. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  months  a  deep,  silent 
anger  spread  amongst  the  people.  Though  the 
infatuated  Bourbons  and  their  men  had  no  sus- 
picion of  it,  there  was  a  temper  throughout  the 
whole  of  France  that  was  extremely  dangerous, 
seeing  that  the  man  who  had  led  them  a  short 
time  before  to  unexampled  power  and  glory  was 
still  alive  and  not  far  away.  The  Emperor  was 
well  aware  of  all  this.  He  knew  the  country  so 
well  that  he  could  read  between  the  lines  of  the 
journals  he  received  and  see  the  awful  blunders 
of  King  Louis ;  how  not  only  the  army,  but  the 
whole  people,  just  as  in  the  revolutionary  times, 
was  enraged  at  the  stupid  and  unfair  treatment. 

It  is  true  that  he  had  few  visitors  in  Elba. 
The  English  saw  to  that.  But  King  Joachim 
had  veered  round  once  more  and  drawn  close  to 
Napoleon.  He  had  from  Italy  the  best  oppor- 
tunity of  communicating  with  Elba,  and  when  he 
sent  word  in  the  beginning  of  1815  that  the  Vienna 
Congress  was  disposed  to  follow  Talleyrand's  ad- 
vice and  send  him  to  St.  Helena,  the  Emperor's 
resolution  was  made.  Ammunition  was  secretly 
brought  from  Naples,  a  few  arms  from  Algiers, 
and  a  few  small  boats  from  Genoa.  Suddenly, 
at  a  pre-arranged  signal,  his  men  embarked  at 
Porto  Ferrajo  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  on 
February  26th,  1816.  There  were  1,000  men  alto- 
gether :  the  400  grenadiers  went  with  the  Emperor 


318  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

on  board  a  small  brig  with  twenty-six  guns.  The 
others  were  distributed  amongst  the  smaller  boats. 

In  order  to  divert  attention  the  Emperor 
gave  a  feast  that  evening,  at  which  his  mother 
and  sister  did  the  honours.  He  then  slipped  on 
board  in  the  darkness,  and  sailed  with  six  other 
small  craft  for  France.  He  had  the  same  wonder- 
ful luck  that  he  always  had  on  the  Mediterranean. 
He  reached  a  French  harbour  with  his  flotilla  on 
March  1st,  without  being  discovered  by  the  English. 
The  only  incident  during  the  voyage  was  that 
he  was  hailed  by  a  French  frigate,  and  asked  how 
the  Emperor  was  doing  at  Elba.  Napoleon  him- 
self replied  that  the  Emperor  was  doing  very 
well.  Otherwise  the  whole  time  was  taken  up  with 
working,  dictating  and  writing  proclamations. 

A  modern  author  has  pointed  out  that  the 
man  who  came  from  Elba  was  no  longer  the 
General  Bonaparte  who  leaped  to  land  after  the 
return  from  Egypt.  The  little  officer  of  1799, 
thin,  inflexible  in  will,  had  become  the  stout  head 
of  a  state,  irresolute  and  sensuous.  Everything 
depends  on  the  bodily  frame.  It  is  the  thin  men 
who  succeed,  and  to  whom  the  future  belongs.  Those 
who  become  stout  have  to  struggle  against  irreso- 
luteness,  or,  rather,  their  qualities  change  and 
degenerate.  Nevertheless,  in  stout  men  the  orig- 
inal characters  continue  to  predominate.  The 
thinker  remains  a  thinker ;  the  man  of  action 
retains  his  power  to  bend  and  lead  men.  But  the 
salient  features  are  modified  in  both  types  of 
men.  The  thinker  becomes  coarse-grained  and 
cynical ;  the  man  of  energy  becomes  egoistic. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  319 

In  the  case  of  Napoleon  there  were  other  rea- 
sons that  contributed  to  his  change  and  downfall. 
He  was  accustomed  to  see  the  most  scandalous 
advances  on  the  part  of  all  the  women  he  came  in 
contact  with.  The  imprudent  Pauline  wrote  from 
Elba  letters  that  were  stolen  and  read  by  others. 
In  letters  to  two  colonels  who  were  intimate  friends 
of  hers  she  told  one  that  he  must  not  come  because 
Napoleon  was  so  jealous,  and  the  other  to  come 
as  quickly  as  possible  because  she  had  so  much 
time  left. 

But  that  he  was  by  no  means  so  greatly 
altered  as  to  entertain  anything  strange  or  new, 
or  that  he  had  lost  anything  of  himself,  was  soon 
to  be  made  quite  clear.  Apart  from  the  renewal 
of  trouble  and  the  fresh  outrages  that  his  return 
brought  upon  France,  the  deed  itself  is  one  of  the 
most  splendid  that  any  man  ever  achieved.  The 
man  who  had  barely  escaped  being  torn  to  pieces 
by  his  embittered  people  ten  months  before,  now 
returned  to  the  very  same  spots,  and  no  sooner 
did  the  armies  that  were  sent  against  him  catch 
sight  of  his  grey  coat  but  they  broke  out  into 
wild  cries  of  4  Long  live  the  Emperor  ! '  No 
sooner  did  they  hear  his  voice  but  they  faced 
about,  and  were  ready  to  follow  him  to  death  once 
more. 

It  began  at  Grenoble.  The  road  was  blocked, 
and  the  king's  soldiers  were  ready  to  fire  on  Napo- 
leon and  his  little  troop.  He  walked  on  foot  up 
to  his  grenadiers,  drew  aside  his  old  military  coat, 
and  said  quietly : 


320  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

*  Is  there  any  one  here  who  will  shoot  his 
Emperor  ?  '  Their  whole  attitude  changed  at 
once.  The  ranks  broke  out  into  a  unanimous 
cry  of  '  Long  live  the  Emperor ! '  A  single  shot 
from  either  side  would  have  given  the  whole  thing 
a  different  turn.  The  brave  Colonel  Labedoyere 
led  the  seventh  regiment  over  to  him.  He  entered 
the  fortress  of  Grenoble,  the  townsmen  themselves 
tearing  down  the  gates.  The  rejoicing  was  in- 
describable. In  one  moment  the  Emperor  had 
become  again  the  idol  of  the  French  army. 

When  it  was  known  in  Paris — news  did  not 
travel  fast  a  hundred  years  ago — a  royal  resolu- 
tion appeared  in  the  Moniteur,  declaring  General 
Bonaparte  an  outlaw.  The  journal  announced 
at  the  same  time  that  the  venture  was  a  failure, 
and  that  Bonaparte  was  hiding  in  the  mountains, 
without  any  supporters,  from  the  vengeance  of 
the  people.  The  king's  nephew,  the  Duke  of 
Angouleme,  was  waiting  to  receive  the  Emperor 
at  Lyons,  together  with  Marshals  Massena  and 
Macdonald  and  Generals  Marchand  and  Duvernet. 
The  troops  deserted.  The  Duke  and  Macdonald 
had  to  fly  from  the  town,  and  it  received  the 
Emperor  as  Grenoble  had  done.  He  had  spoken 
words  at  Grenoble  that  awakened  the  highest  hopes : 
'  From  this  time  forward  I  shall  not  be  the  des- 
pot of  France,  but  its  best  citizen.'  But  before 
he  left  Lyons  the  despot  appeared  in  him,  even 
worse  than  ever.  He  published  a  decree  dissolv- 
ing the  Chambers  and  ordering  a  fresh  extra- 
ordinary assembly  of  the  elective  colleges  of  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  321 

kingdom.  They  were  to  revise  the  constitution, 
and  crown  the  Empress  and  the  King  of  Rome. 

But  at  the  same  time  he  published  another 
decree,  in  which  a  number  of  deserters  were  im- 
peached and  their  property  confiscated.  Amongst 
these  were  Talleyrand,  Marmont  and  Bourienne. 
Augereau's  name  was  struck  off  the  list  at  the 
request  of  the  generals.  Even  General  Bertrand 
and  Maret  hesitated  to  sign  these  decrees.  c  I 
won't  sign,'  said  Bertrand.  *  This  is  not  what 
the  Emperor  promised.'  And  when  the  Emperor 
asked  his  companion  at  a  banquet  at  Lyons, 
Mme.  Duchatel,  if  her  husband,  who  had  control 
of  the  State  property,  had  confiscated  Talleyrand's 
property  yet,  she  drily  answered :  *  There  is  no 
hurry,  Your  Majesty.'  The  Emperor  turned 
away,  and  changed  the  subject. 

The  unfortunate  Marshal  Ney,  whose  head 
was  very  much  out  of  proportion  to  his  courage, 
had  promised  Louis  XVIII  that  he  would  bring 
him  Napoleon  in  an  iron  cage.  But  when  he 
approached  his  old  master,  he  went  over  to  him. 
Napoleon  received  him  well  and  embraced  him. 
However,  they  both  felt  that  this  iron  cage  had 
come  between  them.  The  relations  between  them 
never  became  like  what  they  had  been,  and  Ney 
was  no  longer  the  same  man. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  on  March  20th 
Napoleon  rode  once  more  into  the  courtyard  at 
Fontainebleau,  where  he  had  parted  from  his 
Guard  a  year  before.  Ho  now  had  his  whole  army 
back  again.  That  night  Louis  XVIII  left  the 
v 


322  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

palace  of  his  fathers,  surrounded  by  a  nervous 
group  of  people  anxious  to  get  away  from  Paris. 
The  Vienna  Congress,  where  dissension  had  begun 
to  set  in,  now  joined  in  a  strong  alliance  against 
the  common  enemies. 

On  the  evening  of  March  20th  the  Emperor 
entered  Paris.  In  front  of  the  Tuileries  he  was 
seized  by  the  crowd,  which  could  contain  itself  no 
longer.  They  lifted  him  out  of  the  carriage,  and 
carried  him  up  the  steps  into  the  brightly  lit 
rooms,  where  he  found  his  old  ministers  and  mar- 
shals, and  the  officers,  servants  and  ladies  of  the 
Court.  All  the  Bonapartes  were  there,  even 
Lucien.  An  improvised  guard,  consisting  of  gen- 
erals alone,  kept  watch  in  his  antechambers,  and 
the  rejoicing  was  universal.  The  next  morning 
it  was  announced  in  the  Moniteur  :  *  His  Majesty 
the  Emperor  returned  to  Fontainebleau  last 
night.' 

With  incredible  swiftness  Paris  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  country  accepted  the  situation.  Once 
more,  for  a  hundred  days,  Prance  became  an  em- 
pire fighting  the  whole  of  Europe.  Many  of  his 
faithful  supporters  were  ready  to  take  up  at  once 
the  positions  they  had  formerly  filled,  so  that  a 
great  deal  of  the  vast  administration  went  on 
almost  without  interruption.  The  Postmaster- 
General,  Lavalette,  whom  the  King  had  dismissed, 
returned  to  his  bureau  at  the  first  news  of  Napo- 
leon's landing.  But  there  were  hard  times  for  a 
good  many.  Thousands  of  officers  had  sworn 
fidelity  to  King  Louis,  and  now  the  Emperor  was 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  323 

there,  inviting  them  to  return.  It  was  difficult 
to  resist,  and  difficult  to  know  how  the  whole 
thing  would  end.  His  return  and  the  way  in 
which  the  country  received  him  seemed  to  prove 
that  the  future  was  with  him  once  more. 

When  they  had  recovered  somewhat  from 
their  astonishment  the  people  looked  to  Napoleon 
to  make  good  the  promise  he  had  made  repeatedly 
since  he  landed,  of  giving  France  a  free  constitution 
and  ruling  in  constitutional  form.  In  spite  of  the 
advice  and  resistance  of  all  his  old  friends  and 
servants,  the  Emperor  published  a  supplementary 
Act  to  the  imperial  constitution,  maintaining  the 
absolutism  of  former  days.  France  at  once  under- 
stood that  Napoleon  had  come  back  unchanged, 
without  any  appreciation  of  the  popular  demand  for 
freedom  such  as  one  might  have  expected  from  so 
great  a  man  after  such  trials.  All  the  friends  of 
legal  conditions  under  a  free  constitution,  who  had 
gladly  hailed  him  as  the  dictator  who  would  rid 
the  land  of  the  stupid  and  malicious  regimentalism 
of  the  Bourbons,  were  bitterly  disappointed,  and 
withdrew  in  despondency.  From  this  day  for- 
ward there  was  nothing  to  face  the  fresh  humilia- 
tion that  Europe  was  preparing  to  inflict  on  France 
except  an  army  under  the  control  of  one  man, 
and  a  nation  that  silently  and  despondently  waited 
for  the  inevitable. 

The  Emperor  named  118  new  members  of  the 
House  of  Peers.  This  time  he  did  not  choose  his 
men  chiefly  from  the  old  nobility,  for  whom  he  had 
formerly  a  weakness.  There  were  five  or  six  who 


324  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

refused  the  honour.  To  the  Emperor's  distress, 
Macdonald  was  one  of  these.  Afterwards  all  the 
emigrants  ran  about  boasting  that  they  had  re- 
fused to  accept  the  peerage  from  Napoleon. 

He  then  held  the  great  assembly  that  he  had 
projected.  It  was  called  the  Champ  de  Mai,  and 
was  to  recall  the  ceremonious  oath  that  Louis  XVI 
had  sworn  in  1790  on  the  same  spot.  An  immense 
altar  was  erected  in  the  Champ  de  Mars.  Napo- 
leon appeared  in  a  fantastic  imperial  garb  with 
huge  feathers  in  his  hat  that  covered  the  stout 
little  man.  The  ceremony,  which  he  had  arranged 
himself,  was  very  pompous.  Oaths  and  promises 
were  made  in  flamboyant  language,  and  the  army 
was  jubilant.  Otherwise,  however,  the  general 
attitude  was  tame,  and  nothing  came  of  it.  This 
was  on  the  1st  of  June. 

At  last  war  broke  out,  and  Napoleon  left 
Paris  in  the  night  between  June  1 1th  and  1 2th.  The 
campaign  was  short,  and  was  only  conducted  in 
the  north,  on  the  Belgian  frontier,  against  the 
English  under  Wellington  and  the  Prussians  under 
Bliicher.  Murat  was  never  restored  to  his  real 
self,  though  he  had  returned  to  Napoleon's  side. 
On  May  3rd  he  attacked  the  Austrians  prematurely, 
and  against  Napoleon's  orders,  at  Tolentino,  and 
his  Neapolitans  were  badly  beaten.  He  threw 
himself  time  after  time  on  the  enemy,  but  proved 
to  be  still  invulnerable.  After  aimlessly  wander- 
ing about  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  shot. 

The  great  names  now  made  their  last  appear- 
ance in  the  last  army,  though  many  of  the  Em- 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  325 

peror's  best  generals  were  missing.  Davoust  had 
met  Napoleon  at  Paris  and  accepted  the  position 
of  Minister  of  War.  Marshal  Soult  came  from 
Spain,  and  took  a  command,  as  did  also  Generals 
Clausel,  Decaen  and  Labord.  A  comparatively 
large  number  of  officers  came  from  Spain,  where 
the  troops  had  not  shared  the  Russian  and  Saxon 
campaigns  and  Napoleon's  defeat.  With  them 
were  Ney,  Exelmans,  Gerard,  Girard,  Milhaud, 
Morand,  Friant,  Lefebvre-Desnouettes,  Pajol  and 
Vandamme.  General  Grouchy  had  been  made  a 
marshal. 

Napoleon's  plan  was  that  Marshal  Ney  with 
the  left  wing  should — as  soon  as  possible — take 
the  position  of  Quatre-Bras  in  the  direction  of 
Brussels,  where  Wellington  had  his  headquarters. 
At  the  same  time  Marshal  Grouchy  was  to  occupy 
the  village  of  Fleurus,  and  thus  Wellington  and 
Bliicher  would  be  kept  apart.  The  plan  was  good, 
and  it  looked  as  if  all  was  going  to  be  done  accord- 
ing to  their  calculations.  On  the  evening  of 
June  14th  there  was  perfect  confidence  and  quiet- 
ness at  Brussels,  Charleroi  and  Namur.  No  one 
had  any  suspicion  of  the  Emperor's  plan,  and  the 
army  began  to  march.  But  on  the  evening  of 
June  16th  a  French  general  deserted,  and  went  over 
with  two  colonels  to  the  Prussians,  and  in  this 
way  Napoleon's  plan  was  made  known  to  Bliicher. 

The  traitor  was  General  Bourmont.  He  was 
a  brave  officer,  and  had  fought  with  unflinching 
courage  down  to  the  battle  of  Montereau  in  1814, 
at  which  he  was  wounded.  He  was  one  of  the 


326  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

officers  that  Napoleon  did  not  particularly  trust, 
but  Ney  and  Girard  had  so  warmly  recommended 
him  that  he  received  a  command.  There  were 
not  now  so  many  officers  to  choose  from,  and 
Napoleon  no  longer  acted  on  his  own  ideas.  The 
same  General  Bourmont  who  deserted  from  Napo- 
leon the  night  before  the  battle  gained  honours 
and  dignities  under  the  Bourbons,  and  was  at 
length  made  a  marshal  after  the  war  in  Algiers  in 
1830. 

It  was  even  worse  for  Napoleon  that  Ney  by 
no  means  led  his  corps  as  he  used  to  do.  Instead 
of  advancing  rapidly  on  Frasnes  with  the  whole 
of  the  second  corps,  which  would  have  enabled 
the  first  corps  to  take  up  a  position  at  Gosselios, 
and  from  there  easily  occupy  Quatre-Bras,  which 
was  not  far  from  Frasnes,  the  Marshal  sent  only  a 
small  division  on  Frasnes,  and  as  a  result  the  left 
wing  remained  too  far  behind. 

On  June  16th  the  Emperor  beat  Blucher  in  a 
pitched  battle  at  Ligny.  Here  General  Girard, 
one  of  the  heroes  of  Liitzen,  met  his  fate.  Both 
before  and  during  the  battle  the  Emperor  sent 
message  after  message  to  tell  Marshal  Ney  to 
march  as  quickly  as  possible  eastwards  from  Qua- 
tre  Bras,  and  drive  the  Prussians  into  the  arms  of 
Grouchy  who  was  at  Sombreuf.  In  this  way 
Bliicher's  army  would  have  been  completely  sur- 
rounded. '  The  fate  of  France  is  in  your  hand,' 
the  Emperor  said  to  Ney.  *  The  war  can  be 
decided  within  three  hours.' 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  327 

Now,  however,  General  Drouot,  Count  of 
Erlon — not  the  artillery-general  Drouot — made 
a  false  move,  in  consequence  of  a  misunderstand- 
ing, and  the  opportunity  of  surrounding  the  Prus- 
sians was  lost.  Napoleon  then  broke  clean  through 
the  enemy.  Bliicher,  who  believed  he  was  on 
the  point  of  winning,  was  kept  off  by  the  French 
cavalry  under  Milhaud  and  Gerard.  The  aged 
Field-Marshal  himself  fell  under  his  horse,  and  the 
French  cavalry  swept  over  him  without  knowing 
it.  The  Prussians  lost  20,000  men,  40  guns,  and 
8  flags  at  Ligny.  It  was  a  complete  victory ; 
but  it  was  nothing  in  comparison  with  what  it 
might  have  been  but  for  Count  d'Erlon's  mis- 
understanding, and  if  Ney  had  advanced  at  the 
proper  time  with  the  left  wing. 

After  the  battle  Napoleon  sent  his  adjutant 
Flahaut  to  Marshal  Ney  with  orders  to  occupy 
Quatre-Bras  at  once  and  keep  off  Wellington  until 
the  Emperor  could  come  up.  In  order  to  ward 
off  Bliicher  and  General  Billow  while  he  finished 
the  English,  the  Emperor  sent  Marshal  Grouchy 
eastwards  with  a  strong  force  of  50,000  men,  and 
told  him  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Prussian 
generals.  This  led  to  disaster.  Bliicher,  who 
had  found  Billow,  gained  so  much  time  and 
marched  so  rapidly  that  he  passed  Grouchy  to 
the  north  and  hurried  westwards  to  Waterloo, 
and  reached  the  field  in  the  afternoon. 

The  battle  had  begun  at  one  o'clock,  and  the 
whole  plan  was  based  on  the  fact  of  Grouchy 
opposing  the  Germans  with  50,000  men.  In  the 


328  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

afternoon  the  battle  was  as  good  as  lost  for  the 
English.  Ney  had  completely  recovered  on  the 
field  and  performed  marvels  of  bravery.  At  last 
he  advanced  on  foot  at  the  head  of  his  battalions 
of  the  guard,  together  with  Friant,  Cambronne, 
and  Duhesme.  But  Grouchy  was  marching  away 
from  the  field  in  a  totally  unintelligible  fashion. 
He  took  no  notice  of  the  orders  he  received  from 
Exelmans  and  Gerard,  and  ignored  Napoleon's 
old  general  order  to  march  always  towards  the 
thunder  of  the  guns.  And  while  he  failed  to  come 
up  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  battle,  Biilow  did 
so,  and  Blucher  shortly  after  him,  and  the  battle 
was  irretrievably  lost  to  the  French.  The  whole 
army  was  destroyed.  Only  a  few  stubborn  frag- 
ments of  the  guard  remained  on  the  field,  and 
were  eventually  saved  by  Morand  and  Colbert. 

It  is  very  striking  to  see  how  often  hi  these 
two  battles,  Ligny  and  Waterloo,  everything  hung 
on  a  single  thread.  If  Ney  had  made  haste  he 
might  have  caught  Wellington  at  the  ball  at 
Brussels.  If  D'Erlon  had  not  made  a  false  move, 
the  Prussians  would  have  been  surrounded  at 
Ligny.  Blucher  might  have  been  taken  prisoner 
if  any  one  had  recognized  him  ;  and  Napoleon 
might  have  won  the  battle  of  Waterloo  if  Grouchy 
had  done  his  duty.  All  this  means,  of  course, 
that  the  whole  apparatus  which  had  once  worked 
so  accurately  and  flawlessly,  as  well  as  the  chief 
himself,  were  somewhat  worn.  His  generals  had 
lost  their  blind  faith  in  his  invincibility  in  Russia. 
It  was  now  plain  that  this  belief  was  the  real 
cause  of  his  invincibility. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  329 

In  the  indescribable  confusion  that  followed 
the  battle  Napoleon  rode  alone  and  unrecognized 
in  the  stream  of  fugitives.  After  the  battle  the 
general  staff,  with  the  Duke  of  Bassano  and  the 
Emperor's  secretaries,  had  lost  sight  of  him. 
They  looked  for  him  for  a  long  time,  and  at  last 
heard  that  he  had  been  seen  riding  on  the  road  to 
Laon.  They  then  hurried  after  him  through  the 
turmoil  and  the  enemy's  cavalry,  which  was  at 
work  everywhere.  They  happened  to  come  across 
Napoleon's  own  horses,  and  took  one  each.  Maret 
was  so  impregnated  with  reverence  that  they  had 
the  greatest  difficulty  in  persuading  him  to  mount 
one  of  the  Emperor's  own  horses,  although  the 
Prussians  were  close  on  their  heels.  They  found 
the  Emperor  in  a  frightful  condition  at  Philippe- 
ville — in  a  wretched  house,  without  carriage  or 
anything.  His  officers  were  covered  with  wounds 
and  blood  and  dirt,  and  almost  unrecognizable. 
Their  eyes  were  swollen  with  weeping,  and  they 
were  quite  undone. 

Luckily  Marshal  Soult's  carriages  came  along, 
and  the  Emperor  mounted  one  of  them  with  Ber- 
trand.  In  the  next  were  Maret,  Drouot,  and  a 
couple  of  generals,  and  in  the  third  were  the 
younger  officers,  Fleury,  Labedoyere,  Flahaut,  and 
Corbineau.  The  officers  spent  the  time  in  talk- 
ing. Labedoyere  thought  the  disaster  would 
bring  the  whole  of  France  together.  Fleury  was 
of  opinion  that  the  Chambers  would  fall  on  the 
Emperor  as  the  man  who  had  ruined  the  country. 
'  If  they  do,'  said  Labedoyere,  '  we  shall  have 


330  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  Allies  at  Paris  again  in  a  week,  and  then  the 
Bourbons,  and  I  shall  be  the  first  to  be  shot.' 
Flahaut  believed  the  Emperor  was  lost  if  he  went 
to  Paris.  It  was  only  at  the  head  of  an  army 
that  he  would  be  able  to  treat  with  the  Allies  in 
favour  of  his  son.  *  But,'  he  added,  *  perhaps 
most  of  our  generals  are  at  this  moment  making 
their  submission  to  the  king.'  '  I  agree  with 
Flahaut  that  he  is  lost  if  he  goes  to  Paris,'  said 
Fleury.  '  They  will  never  forgive  the  Emperor 
for  leaving  the  army  four  times — in  Egypt,  Spain, 
at  Smorgoni,  and  now  here  in  the  middle  of 
France.' 

At  Laon  there  were  about  3,000  men  with 
King  Jerome,  who  behaved  like  a  man  now  that 
the  disaster  had  come.  There  were  also  Marshal 
Soult  and  Generals  Morand,  Colbert  and  Petit. 
It  was  the  general  feeling  of  the  higher  officers 
that  the  Emperor  ought  to  go  at  once  to  Paris, 
and  they  made  every  effort  to  persuade  him.  He 
resisted  them  for  a  long  time,  and  when  he  yielded 
at  length  to  their  pressure  he  said  :  *  Very  good, 
I  will  go  to  Paris.  But  I  am  quite  sure  that  you 
are  inducing  me  to  do  something  foolish.'  General 
Bonaparte  could  never  have  spoken  those  words. 

He  left  it  to  Marshal  Soult,  who  took  Ber- 
thier's  place  as  head  of  the  general  staff,  to  collect 
and  organize  the  remains  of  the  army,  and  he 
began  to  dictate  the  bulletin  on  the  battle  of 
Waterloo,  which  he  submitted  to  his  generals. 
He  was  just  as  candid  in  describing  his  defeat  as 
he  had  been  at  Smorgoni  in  the  29th  bulletin. 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  331 

Curiously  enough,  however,  the  generals  could  not 
induce  him  to  say  in  the  bulletin  that  all  the 
imperial  carriages  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  They  contained  his  clothes,  his  money, 
his  papers,  and  a  number  of  small  private  matters, 
as  well  as  a  very  valuable  diamond  necklace  that 
Pauline  had  given  him  to  be  used  in  emergency. 
On  his  arrival  at  Paris  the  Emperor  descended 
at  the  Elysee  Palace,  not  the  Tuileries,  which  he 
never  again  entered.  If  he  had  gone  into  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  just  as  he  came  from  the 
field — as  he  had  thought  of  doing — and  had  des- 
cribed in  his  irresistible  language  what  great  re- 
sources he  still  had,  thanks  to  his  vast  prepara- 
tions, it  might  have  been  possible  to  carry  the 
assembly  with  him  and  obtain  fresh  sacrifices 
from  the  exhausted  country.  But  his  powerful 
frame  had  at  length  succumbed  to  the  terrible 
fatigue.  He  had  been  in  the  saddle  almost  con- 
tinuously from  June  15th,  and  in  great  pain  part  of 
the  time.  He  had  fought  two  battles  in  three  days, 
and  had  gone  through  the  awful  night  after 
Waterloo.  He  was  quite  unfit  to  speak  in  a  large 
assembly.  Meantime,  Fouch6  contrived  to  set 
feeling  against  the  Emperor  in  the  Chamber.  The 
Chamber  of  Peers  followed  suit,  and  Napoleon 
was  forced  to  abdicate  the  crown  a  second  time. 
He  did  so  in  favour  of  his  son,  Napoleon  II.  A 
provisional  government  was  formed  by  Fouche, 
Carnot  and  General  Grenier,  and  was  to  treat 
with  the  Allied  princes,  who  now  approached  Paris 
for  the  second  time. 


332  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

On  June  22  the  Emperor  asked  for  two  fri- 
gates, which  lay  at  Rochefort,  to  be  put  at  his 
disposal,  to  take  him  and  his  family  to  America. 
He  decided  to  wait  at  Malmaison  for  the  answer 
to  this  request,  as  a  large  crowd  of  inquisitive  folk 
had  gradually  formed  round  the  Elysee  Palace. 
If  he  had  obtained  the  ships  when  he  asked  for 
them  he  would  easily  have  escaped,  as  the  English 
were  not  yet  watching  the  coast.  But  Fouche, 
who  was  very  anxious  that  one  or  the  other 
Napoleon  should  be  done  away  with,  wasted  time 
and  made  a  great  parade  of  getting  the  frigates 
ready  ;  and  at  the  same  time  wrote  to  Wellington 
for  passes  for  Napoleon  and  his  suite.  It  hardly 
needed  so  much  as  that  to  put  England  on  the 
alert,  and  from  that  moment  it  was  impossible 
to  leave  the  French  coast. 

While  the  Emperor  was  at  Malmaison,  where 
he  had  spent  a  happy  time  as  First  Consul,  Count 
Flahaut  rode  one  day  to  Paris  to  ask  for  the 
passes  they  were  to  receive.  In  the  Tuileries  he 
met  the  Prince  of  Eckmiihl.  '  Your  Bonaparte 
is  taking  his  time,'  said  Davoust.  '  Tell  him 
from  me  that  he  had  better  make  haste.  If  he 
does  not  start  at  once  I  shall  have  to  have  him 
arrested.  I  will  come  myself,  in  fact,  and  arrest 
him.'  *  I  did  not  expect  to  hear  such  language 
as  that  from  a  man  who  was  at  Napoleon's  feet 
a  week  ago,'  said  Flahaut.  Davoust  adopted  a 
lofty  tone,  and  wanted  the  adjutant  arrested,  but 
Flahaut  fulfilled  his  mission.  When  he  came 
back  to  Malmaison  and  told  of  his  meeting  with 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  333 

Davoust,  the  Emperor  said  resignedly  :  *  Let 
him  come.  I  am  ready  to  offer  him  my  neck.' 

The  indecision  and  confusion  amongst  Napo- 
leon's officers  were  now  at  their  height.  A  large 
number  of  them  had  compromised  themselves  in 
the  Hundred  Days,  and  they  all  knew  that  the 
Bourbons  would  take  serious  measures  with  them 
on  their  return.  Savary  and  many  others  went 
abroad.  Massena  had  gone  over  to  the  King  at 
the  first  restoration,  and  Napoleon  had  failed  to 
bring  him  back  when  he  returned  from  Elba. 
The  marshal  was  given  command  of  the  National 
Guard  at  Paris  in  succession  to  General  Durosnel, 
the  man  who  had  saved  his  wife  at  Prince  Schw- 
artzenberg's  ball.  During  the  Russian  campaign 
the  news  reached  Paris  that  General  Dufrosnel 
had  been  killed.  His  wife  put  on  deep  mourning, 
and  made  the  whole  family  do  the  same.  But 
it  was  announced  shortly  afterwards  that  the 
general  was  only  wounded,  and  she  tore  off  her 
mourning.  She  told  the  servants  to  bring  their 
black  clothes  into  the  courtyard,  and  they  made 
a  bonfire  of  them  with  great  rejoicing. 

Marshal  Jourdan  and  General  Rapp  were 
with  the  army  on  the  Rhine,  and  they  retained 
their  commands.  Napoleon  asked  General  Drouot, 
who  had  been  with  him  in  Elba,  to  follow  him  to 
America.  But  Drouot  would  not  abandon  his 
command  of  the  Imperial  Guard,  fearing  to  expose 
them  to  the  vengeance  of  the  Bourbons.  The 
Emperor  then  turned  to  Savary,  the  Duke  of 


334  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Rovigo,  who  promised  to  accompany  him.  Mean- 
time the  Allied  armies  were  approaching,  and  the 
Prussians  seemed  to  be  advancing  on  Malmaison. 
The  Emperor,  therefore,  took  leave  of  Queen  Hor- 
tense  and  the  few  faithful  friends  and  servants 
who  were  still  with  him,  and  reached  Rochefort 
with  Savary  and  Bertrand  on  July  3rd. 

On  that  very  day  Paris  was  surrendered  to 
Field  Marshal  Bliicher  at  St.  Cloud,  where  he 
had  fixed  his  headquarters.  The  French  army 
was  sent  across  the  Loire  to  be  disarmed.  The 
Moniteur  at  the  same  time  published  a  declaration 
from  the  King,  in  which  he  said :  *  I  hear  that  a 
gate  is  open  to  my  kingdom,  and  I  hasten  to 
return  by  it.'  It  is  a  very  different  style  from 
Napoleon's.  The  declaration,  which  had  been 
prepared  by  Talleyrand,  as  chief  of  the  ministry, 
also  promised  the  royal  pardon  to  all  except  those 
who  had  taken  part  in  the  revolt  of  the  Hundred 
Days. 

At  Rochefort  and  on  the  west  coast  of  France 
there  was  still  a  strong  feeling  in  favour  of  the 
Emperor.  General  Qausel  had  a  few  ships  ready 
at  Bordeaux,  but  it  was  obviously  impossible 
to  elude  the  English,  and  Napoleon  went  of  his 
own  accord  on  board  the  Englishtf  rigate  Bellerophon, 
and  said  to  Captain  Maitland :  '  I  surrender  to 
the  generosity  of  the  English  nation.'  In  point 
of  fact  it  was  the  best,  if  not  the  only,  tiling  he 
could  do.  If  he  had  been  captured,  his  life  might 
have  been  in  some  danger.  It  is  true  that  Napo- 
leon cared  little  about  life  at  the  time,  but  it  is 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  335 

an  intolerable  thing  for  an  officer  to  be  taken 
prisoner,  disarmed,  and  perhaps  shot  by  a  file  of 
soldiers.  His  relations  to  all  the  foreign  princes 
were  such  that  he  would  have  found  it  a  torture 
worse  than  death  to  see  them  again  in  his  present 
position.  They  were  the  King  of  Prussia,  whom 
he  had  pitilessly  robbed  and  humiliated,  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,  his  own  father-in-law,  whose 
armies  he  had  fought  for  twenty  years  ;  and  lastly, 
the  Emperor  Alexander,  who  had  cynically  duped 
him  and  brought  about  his  downfall. 

Of  the  English  he  was  only  acquainted  with 
subjects  of  the  King.  They  also  were  enemies, 
but  he  had  no  others  to  turn  to.  And  he  was 
quite  right  in  trusting  to  the  generosity  of  the 
English  people.  He  was  destined  to  be  disap- 
pointed, but  it  was  a  disappointment  for  the 
whole  world  as  well.  People  had  then,  and  have 
still,  a  better  opinion  of  the  English^;  and  I 
believe  Great  Britain's  gentlemen  are  ashamed 
to  this  day  of  what  was  done.  Exaggerated  as 
some  of  the  accounts  are,  it  is  certain  that  Napo- 
leon was  treated  with  a  deliberate  pettiness  and 
made  to  suffer  in  the  most  tasteless  manner.  If 
there  had  been  a  single  great  man  amongst  his 
enemies  he  might  have  prevented  them  all  from 
passing  down  to  posterity  with  the  disgrace  of 
their  vindictiveness. 

Napoleon  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Prince  Regent, 
the  most  powerful,  dignified  and  noble  of  his 
enemies.  But  his  letter  met  with  a  worse  fate 


336  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

than  any  other  of  his  autograph  letters  to  sove- 
reigns. Gourgaud,  who  took  it,  was  not  even 
allowed  to  land  in  England.  The  Bellerophon 
spent  an  interminable  time  cruising  between  the 
coasts  of  England  and  France,  and  at  last  the 
news  came  that  Napoleon  had  to  be  taken  to  St. 
Helena.  He  and  his  companions  were  disarmed 
and  searched.  Diamonds,  money,  and  objects 
of  value  were  taken  from  them  to  be  *  used  in 
paying  for  their  maintenance.'  All  letters  to  or 
from  them  were  to  be  read  by  the  governor. 

Generals  Bertrand,  Montholon  and  Gour- 
gaud, and  the  Lord  of  the  Chamber,  Las  Cases, 
were  allowed  to  accompany  him.  But  Generals 
Savary  and  Lallemand,  who  had  already  been 
condemned  to  death  by  King  Louis,  had  to  leave 
the  ship.  On  August  7th  the  Emperor  and  his 
suite  were  transferred  to  the  frigate  Northumber- 
land, and  on  October  17th  he  was  landed  on  the 
island  of  St.  Helena. 


CHAPTER    X 

Napoleon  was  a  changed  man  when  he  came 
from  Elba,  but  the  Allied  princes  also  were  very 
different  beings  when  they  entered  Paris  in  triumph 
for  the  second  time.  They  were  full  of  confidence, 
and  restored  to  high  spirits  after  their  recent  anxiety. 
They  had  a  cordial  reception,  as  there  was  now 
much  more  ill-feeling  against  the  Emperor.  The 
Tsar  took  up  his  residence  at  Talleyrand's  once 
more  and  received  general  homage.  And  when 
they  had  once  more  gone  thoroughly  through 
the  collections  at  the  Louvre  and  elsewhere,  to  make 
sure  that  there  was  not  a  single  bit  of  canvas  or 
marble  left  that  the  Emperor  had  brought  to 
Paris,  they  departed  for  their  various  countries, 
and  left  the  adipose  Bourbon  to  restore  peace  and 
order  in  his  rescued  country,  on  which  the  Cossacks 
had  again  made  their  violent  impression. 

The  German  princes  returned  home  chiefly 

with  the  intention  of  stifling  as  quickly  as  possible 

the  rising  of  the  people  that  had  been  so  useful 

to  them  when  their  thrones  were  in  danger,   but 

w 


338  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

which  was  of  no  further  use  to  them  now.  They 
went  back  with  the  stupid  and  ungrateful  determi- 
nation to  suppress  or  break  the  forces  from  below, 
which  seemed  to  them  to  spell  nothing  but  revolt 
and  danger.  All  the  light  that  the  movement  in 
young  Germany  would  have  spread  over  Europe,  if 
the  outbreak  had  been  understood  and  appreciated, 
was  now  rigorously  put  out  by  the  arch-extinguisher 
Metternich.  Germany  settled  down  again,  in 
apparent  content,  in  the  semi-darkness.  It  is 
there  still ;  and  a  colossal  amount  of  beer  has 
flowed  in  the  meantime. 

It  is  this  reaction  that  I  had  chiefly  intended 
to  study.  At  first  it  was  almost  worse  in  France 
than  in  Germany.  The  arrogance  and  the  stupidity 
of  the  Bourbons  were  boundless.  What  they  did 
to  Ney  was  not  the  worst.  Ney  had  boasted  of 
his  iron  cage,  and  it  had  been  hard  for  the  legiti- 
mate King  to  see  how  the  majority  of  his  magnates 
and  the  whole  army  had  gone  over  to  the  hated 
enemy.  They  had  to  show  some  rigour,  and  make 
an  example  somewhere  ;  and  Ney's  case  seemed  a 
very  bad  one.  Several  attempts  were  made, 
however,  to  prevent  an  execution  that  every 
Frenchman  felt  as  a  knife  in  his  heart.  The 
marshal  was  almost  afforded  an  opportunity  to 
escape.  But  he  was  completely  dazed  and  in- 
capable of  decisive  action.  He  would  not 
move,  and  so  he  was  arrested,  to  the  general 
regret.  His  legal  defenders  did  all  they  could. 
The  marshals  refused  to  condemn  him  ;  some 
because  they  were  his  friends,  some  because  they 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  339 

were  his  enemies.  The  Chamber  of  Peers  had  to  in- 
tervene to  pass  the  verdict,  and  he  was  condemned 
to  death,  as  was  to  be  expected.  His  wife  begged 
in  vain  for  a  pardon.  The  King  was  inexorable. 
The  mean,  miserable  being  to  whom  France  owed 
nothing  thought  fit,  in  virtue  of  his  legitimate 
royal  blood,  to  put  to  death  the  greatest  soldier 
of  the  country.  Ney  was  shot  by  twelve  poor 
soldiers,  who  were  commanded  to  do  it. 

When  the  marshal  had  dropped — it  was  in 
the  garden  of  the  Luxembourg  Palace — an  English- 
man rode  up  at  full  gallop,  leaped  over  the  fallen 
hero,  and  disappeared.  This  was  supposed  to 
symbolize  the  triumph  of  the  conquerors.  It  was 
as  tasteless  as  everything  that  England  did  to 
Napoleon  and  his  men.  There  was  also  a  Russian 
general  in  full  uniform  on  horseback  amongst  the 
spectators ;  but  the  Emperor  Alexander  drove 
him  out  of  the  army  when  he  heard  of  it. 

The  brave  Colonel  Labedoyere  also  met  his 
fate,  as  he  had  predicted  in  the  carriage  when  they 
were  flying  from  Waterloo.  He  was  executed, 
to  the  general  regret.  Lavalette,  who  had  taken 
over  the  Postal  department,  was  arrested,  and 
only  escaped  execution  by  his  wife  changing 
clothes  with  him  in  his  cell,  and  sending  him  out 
disguised  while  she  remained  in  his  clothes.  She 
was  a  cousin  of  the  Empress  Josephine. 

The  Bourbons  inaugurated  a  reign  of  terror, 
known  as  the  White  Terror  to  distinguish  it  from 
that  during  the  Revolution.  Men  were  tried, 
transported,  or  executed,  and  there  was  no  limit 


340  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

to  the  abasement  of  the  army.  The  emigrants— 
the  five  thousand  that  Talleyrand  had  spoken  of 
—swarmed  like  grubs,  and  heaped  ridicule  and 
scorn  on  Napoleon's  armies  and  generals.  The 
way  in  which  the  Bourbons  maltreated  the  non- 
commissioned officers  and  the  soldiers  soon  led 
the  French  troops  to  lose  the  fine  form  of  the 
4  grand  army.'  And  the  deterioration  was  com- 
pleted when  Napoleon  III  brought  hi  his  rabble 
of  zouaves,  who  even  in  the  wars  in  Algiers  made 
fun  of  the  old  uniforms  of  Bonaparte's  time. 

The  Prussians,  on  the  other  hand,  pursued 
the  opposite  tactics  after  Jena.  When  the  armies 
faced  each  other  again  in  1870,  the  great  Napoleon 
would  certainly  have  led  the  Prussian  army  with 
far  more  satisfaction  than  his  own  old  regiments, 
as  they  then  were. 

For  the  military  nobility  that  Napoleon  had 
founded  the  new  rulers  found  some  use,  especially 
in  view  of  the  great  wealth  that  many  of  these 
families  had  accumulated.  Hence  it  is  that 
many  of  Napoleon's  great  dignitaries  came  through 
the  fire  unscathed.  In  the  first  place,  they  had 
gone  over  to  the  Bourbons  at  the  first  restora- 
tion ;  then  they  returned  to  Napoleon  in  the 
Hundred  Days  ;  and  then  they  came  back  to  the 
King  in  1815.  A  considerable  number  of  them 
did  this.  Marshal  Soult  mounted  the  white  cockade 
and  became  Minister  of  War  under  Louis  XVIII, 
although  he  had  been  with  Napoleon  at  Waterloo. 
He  was  a  peer  of  France  in  1827  and  minister  in 
1830.  He  lived  until  his  eighty-second  year  as 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  341 

Duke  of  Dalmatia,  and  left  great  wealth  and  a 
famous  gallery  of  Spanish  paintings  that  he  had 
'  collected.' 

It  was  much  the  same  with  Davoust.  When 
he  had  returned  half  dead,  like  the  others,  from 
the  Russian  campaign,  he  reorganized  the  army  in 
North  Germany,  blew  up  the  old  bridge  at  Dresden 
in  1813,  and  shut  himself  up  in  Hamburg.  For 
ten  months  he  had  the  unfortunate  town  in  his 
power  ;  its  older  inhabitants  still  shiver  when  his 
name  is  mentioned.  It  was  not  until  May,  1814, 
that  he  would  believe  in  Napoleon's  fall  and  mount 
the  white  flag  of  the  Bourbons.  The  Prince  of 
Eckmuhl  retired  for  a  time  to  his  large  estates  in 
France,  but  on  March  21st,  in  spite  of  all  that  lay 
between  them,  he  became  the  Emperor's  Minister 
of  War.  The  preparations  he  made  for  the  war  are 
famous.  After  Waterloo  the  King  accepted  his 
submission.  He  had  married  a  sister  of  General 
Leclerc,  Pauline's  first  husband  ;  and  his  youngest 
daughter  or  granddaughter  had  a  large  light- 
house built  in  1897  in  the  north  of  France,  which 
she  christened  the  Phare  d' Eckmuhl.  Thus  the 
peaceful  name  of  a  little  German  mill  became  the 
title  of  a  great  French  leader,  and  shines  out  over 
the  sea  to-day  in  memory  of  him. 

Marshal  St.  Cyr  entered  the  ministry.  Mac- 
donald  became  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army. 
Mortier,  who  had  blown  up  the  Kremlin  in  1812, 
was  himself  blown  up  in  1835  by  the  infernal 
machine  that  Fieschi  set  for  Louis  Philippe.  The 
Count  of  Lobau,  General  Mouton,  became  one  of 


342  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Louis  Philippe's  marshals.  He  was  a  hard  but 
able  officer.  Napoleon  married  him  to  a  distin- 
guished lady  of  the  Bavarian  Court.  She  was  in 
her  twentieth  year,  and  very  charming  ;  he  was 
in  his  fortieth,  and  very  ugly.  He  made  a  short 
speech  to  his  officers  on  the  occasion  of  his  wedding. 
'  I  desire,  gentlemen,  that  you  will  look  on  my 
wife  as  a  marble  statue — a  statue  of  Hack  marble,' 
he  said,  with  a  stern  glance  at  the  young  adjutants. 
General  Sebastiani  was  distantly  related  to 
the  Bonapartes.  He  never  abandoned  Napoleon, 
yet  he  lived  in  high  position  at  Paris  until  1851, 
and  became  a  marshal.  Many  of  Napoleon's 
officers,  who  had  worked  their  way  up  through 
the  service,  retained  their  wealth  and  founded 
families  of  which  members  are  still  found  in  the 
highest  French  aristocracy :  such  are  Ney's  descend- 
ants, the  Prince  of  Moskwa  and  Duke  of  Elchingen, 
Lannes'  family,  and  the  Dukes  of  Montebello, 
Caulaincourt  and  Vicenza.  Many  other  names, 
however,  sank  into  poverty  and  disappeared. 
Some  thought  it  lowering  to  go  over  to  the  royal- 
ists. That  was  the  case  with  Las  Cases.  After 
his  return  from  St.  Helena  he  was  urged  to  accept 
a  position  at  Court  in  consonance  with  his  rank, 
but  he  refused.  '  We  have  served  the  great  lord 
of  the  earth,'  he  said.  '  When  he  sent  us  to 
foreign  courts  we  were  treated  as  the  equals  of 
princes  because  we  wore  his  uniform,  and  we  felt 
ourselves  to  be  their  equals.  We  have  seen  seven 
kings  waiting  in  his  antechambers  like  ourselves.' 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  343 

At  the  same  time  there  were  many  men  of 
a  very  different  type  about  Napoleon  ;  men  who 
never  came  really  close  to  him  because  they  never 
wholly  appreciated  him,  out  of  a  feeling  that 
they  took  to  be  pride.  General  Thiebault  was 
one  of  this  category.  He  was  a  brave  man,  but 
he  would  not  push  himself  forward,  and  so  he  let 
every  opportunity  of  advancement  slip  by.  He 
therefore  very  soon  joined  Massena  and  the  other 
malcontents,  and  maintained  a  very  foolish  atti- 
tude toward  the  First  Consul  and  his  friends.  His 
criticism  was  always  directed  against  the  men  who 
rose,  and  he  was  one  of  the  party  of  grumblers. 
He  says,  for  instance,  that  it  was  the  younger 
General  Kellermann  who  won  the  battle  at  Mar- 
engo ;  that  it  was  not  Rampon,  but  an  unknown 
officer,  who  took  the  redoubt  at  Montenotte ; 
that  it  was  not  Davoust  who  earned  the  honour  of 
the  battle  of  Anerstadt,  but  his  generals  of  divi- 
sions, Morand  and  Gudin ;  that  Bonaparte's 
manoeuvres  before  the  battle  of  Marengo  were 
conducted  on  a  plan  that  he,  Thiebault,  had  sent 
some  time  before  to  the  Ministry  of  War.  In 
everything  he  betrays  the  jealous  man's  inability 
to  appreciate.  Otherwise  he  was  courageous  and 
brave  and  generous.  He  severely  criticizes  Bona- 
parte for  not  observing  the  quarantine  regulations 
when  he  returned  from  Egypt.  However,  at  an- 
other place  in  his  memoirs  he  tells  how  when  he 
and  his  comrades  came  half-starved  out  of  Mas- 
s6na's  defence  of  Genoa,  they  threw  the  quarantine 
officials  in  the  sea,  made  for  Nice,  and  fell  upon 


344  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  available  food,  some  of  them  eating  for 
seven  hours  continuously. 

The  figure  of  Napoleon  stands  out  amongst 
a  crowd  of  men  like  these  and  a  thousand  others. 
Their  devotion  and  their  hatred,  their  discontent 
and  their  flattery,  their  loyalty  and  their  treachery, 
cast  light  and  shade  alternately  about  him,  but 
from  his  own  unique  superiority  a  light  is  ever 
cast  over  all  of  them,  gives  them  their  character, 
and  guides  their  development  with  almost  the  same 
force  with  which  he  controlled  their  destinies 
and  their  external  conditions.  Although  his  ideal 
did  not  go  beyond  himself,  his  personality  was  so 
strong  that  the  others  felt  they  were  fighting  and 
suffering  for  a  greater  ideal.  His  judgment  on 
those  who  fell  was  always  a  measure  of  the  in- 
dividual and  his  value. 

After  the  battle  of  Waterloo  the  whole  of 
Europe  breathed  freely  once  more.  The  misery 
and  devastation  that  the  man  had  brought  in  great 
waves  wherever  he  went  had  spread  all  over  the 
Continent.  And  the  farther  men  were  from  the 
centre,  the  less  they  saw  of  the  glamour  of  war. 
They  only  felt  an  intolerable  pressure  and  an  un- 
easy dislocation  of  trade,  commerce,  shipping,  and 
industry.  In  Great  Britain,  and  along  the  coast 
of  the  North  Sea  as  far  as  Hamburg  and  even 
Norway,  it  was  difficult  to  follow  Napoleon's  career 
of  victory  with  any  kind  of  satisfaction.  Every- 
thing was  held  up  in  consequence  of  the  infatuated 
blockade  of  the  Continent.  It  was,  directly,  Eng- 
land who  nearly  exhausted  the  life  of  Norway,  but 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  345 

it  was  Prance  that  was  responsible.  Between  1807 
and  1811  the  English  took  nineteen  ships  belong- 
ing to  my  great-grandfather.  The  fate  of  one  of 
my  great-uncles  was  also  caught  in  the  meshes 
of  the  Napoleonic  net ;  he  was  appointed  head 
chamberlain  to  Bernadotte,  when  he  became  king. 
He  found  so  much  favour  with  the  king  that  he 
was  included  amongst  the  envoys  sent  to  attend 
the  coronation  of  Nicolas  I  in  1826.  At  St. 
Petersburg  he  visited  General  Jomini,  who  had 
taken  part  hi  the  deliberations  as  to  the  crossing 
of  the  Beresina.  He  abandoned  Napoleon  in  1813, 
and  went  over  to  the  enemy.  My  uncle  found 
him  adjutant-general  to  the  Tsar, and  thought  him  a 
man  '  of  striking  features,  but  crafty.'  At 
Moscow  he  often  attended  great  festivals  given  by 
Marshal  Marmont,  Duke  of  Ragusa,  who  was 
the  French  ambassador.  I  should  have  liked 
something  better  than  to  find  my  great-uncle 
dispatched  as  envoy  by  one  traitor,  visiting  a 
second  and  dancing  at  the  house  of  a  third.  How- 
ever, these  are  political  features  of  his  mission 
that  deserved  some  mention. 

The  embassy  consisted  of  the  old  Field- 
Marshal,  Count  von  Stedingk,  and  one  or  two  other 
counts  on  the  part  of  Sweden,  and  only  Major 
Jens  Bull  Kielland  on  the  part  of  Norway.  It  is 
interesting  to  see  how  careful  Sweden  was  from 
the  very  beginning  of  the  union  to  give  expression 
to  the  equal  dignity  of  the  two  realms,  especially 
when  there  was  question  of  representation  abroad. 
On  the  Norwegian  coast  there  was  always  a  good 


346  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

deal  of  feeling  for  England,  our  big  brother  in  the 
North  Sea,  in  spite  of  all  the  hostilities  and  the 
injury  done  to  us  by  the  arrogant  English  naval 
officers.  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  seen  a 
picture  of  Napoleon  in  the  old  houses  in  my 
earliest  years,  or  heard  a  song  about  him,  or  any 
mention  of  his  name.  He  does  not  seem  to  have 
occupied  the  place  that  we  should  expect  in  the 
literature  and  the  correspondence  of  the  time  in 
Norway. 

Napoleon's  attitude  to  women  was  somewhat 
similar  to  his  attitude  towards  men  in  this  re- 
spect :  he  took  everything  that  was  offered 
him,  and  nearly  everything  was  offered  him.  In 
many  other  respects  he  was  a  considerate  and 
almost  affectionate  husband.  His  feeling  for 
Josephine  was  maintained  long  after  the  divorce. 
One  day  her  accounts  were  not  in  order,  as  usual ; 
she  never  managed  to  live  within  the  generous 
allowance  he  made  her.  '  Go  to  Josephine,'  he 
said  sharply  to  a  minister,  '  and  tell  her  that  this 
sort  of  thing  must  stop.  She  must  give  up  this 
folly.'  The  minister  went,  and  returned  the  next 
day.  '  Well,  what  does  she  say  ?  '  Napoleon 
asked.  '  Oh,  your  Majesty,  the  Empress  wept 

and 3  '  What,'  cried  Napoleon,  '  she  wept  ? 

It  was  certainly  not  my  intention  that  you  should 
make  Josephine  weep.  Go  back  to  her  at  once 
and  say  that  we  will  put  her  money-matters 
right — she  must  shed  no  tears.  Say  the  Emperor 
has  commanded  that  she  must  not.' 

Josephine  herself  had   a  few  straight  lines 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS   347 

in  her  not  over-straight  character.  She  had 
been  the  friend  of  the  great  man,  and  she  never 
forgot  it.  At  the  time  when  the  whole  of  Paris 
forgot  the  ruling  Empress  and  the  heir  to  the 
throne,  during  Malet's  brief  revolt  in  1812,  Joseph- 
ine said  :  *  If  there  had  been  any  real  danger  for 
the  Empress  and  for  Napoleon's  son,  I  should 
have  gone  to  her  and  taken  my  place  beside  her, 
no  matter  what  people  said.  Hortense  would 
have  done  the  same.' 

Marie  Louise  was  made  of  very  different 
stuff.  She  never  cherished  the  memory  of  having 
been  the  wife  of  the  great  man.  She  said  as  early 
as  1815  :  '  Lord  Wellington  does  not  know  how 
much  he  did  for  me  when  he  won  the  battle  of 
Waterloo.'  Wellington  did  know,  however.  He 
has  himself  said  :  '  It  is  a  fact  that  she  was 
already  expecting  a  child  by  the  Austrian  Baron 
Neippberg,  whom  she  afterwards  married.  If 
Napoleon  had  won  at  Waterloo,  the  Empress 
would  have  been  compelled  to  return  to  him  in 
that  condition.' 

When  he  did  not  care  to  be  amiable  Napoleon 
could  be  terrible  in  regard  to  ladies.  We  can  readily 
believe  that  it  was  a  genuine  pleasure  to  him  to 
reply  to  Mme.  de  Stael,  when  she  asked  him  what 
kind  of  woman  he  thought  most  of  :  '  The  one 
who  brings  most  children  into  the  world.'  He 
knew  well  how  rude  he  was,  but  this  fishing  for 
compliments  was  too  much  for  him.  At  the  same 
time  he  spoke  the  truth.  He  did  not  like  intellect- 
ual women.  Nor  had  he  much  more  esteem  for 


348  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

virtuous  ones.  He  could  not  endure  Queen  Louisa 
of  Prussia,  though  she  was  very  beautiful.  When, 
in  her  great  sorrow  at  the  misfortunes  of  her  coun- 
try she  went  so  far  as  to  give  the  conqueror  a 
rose  with  the  words,  '  This  rose  for  Magdeburg,' 
Napoleon  coldly  ignored  the  opportunity  of  being 
gallant  to  a  noble  lady.  He  took  the  rose  and 
kept  Magdeburg.  It  was  no  wonder  that  he  was 
called  a  *  a  lout '  in  all  the  courts  of  Europe. 

The  truth  was  he  never  allowed  himself  to  be 
overruled  by  a  woman.  Josephine  might  succeed 
in  influencing  him  in  small  matters  or  persuading 
him  to  do  something  that  was  not  quite  right, 
but  that  went  to  the  account  of  friendship  rather 
than  love.  The  success  of  Countess  Hatzfeldt 
in  obtaining  forgiveness  for  her  husband  at  Berlin 
in  1807,  and  the  Mmes.  Polignac  for  their  husbands 
after  the  Cadoudal  conspiracy,  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  sex  of  the  petitioners.  No  one  ever  knew 
him  to  be  drawn  into  a  bad  deed  or  a  political  crime 
for  the  sake  of  a  woman.  However  strong  his 
amorous  passion  became,  Napoleon  never  had  about 
him  the  scandalous  troop  of  mistresses  that  is 
so  often  found  about  the  courts  of  kings,  beginning 
with  King  David,  whom  we  were  compelled  to 
admire  when  we  were  young. 

Religion  and  the  clergy  were  equally  powerless 
to  influence  him.  There  was  never  any  element 
of  mysticism  about  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  He 
did  not  spend  his  youth  in  morbid  dreams  about 
the  mystery  of  his  future.  He  knew  very  well 
wjho  he  was.  He  was  a  great  man,  a  man  to 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  349 

whom  greatness  came  naturally ;  not  in  the 
same  way  as  other  pretenders  to  the  crown,  who 
go  about  talking  of  kingly  ideas  and  saying  they 
feel  the  presence  of  royal  blood  in  their  veins. 
Napoleon's  ambition  was  healthy  and  strong.  He 
knew  nothing  of  supernatural  powers.  He  trusted 
to  no  help  beyond  himself,  but  relied  on  his  own 
genius  and  the  defects  of  others. 

Some  have  represented  him  as  having  a  super- 
stition about  certain  days,  and  pretended  that 
he  believed  he  had  a  star.  Napoleon  knew 
what  power  there  is  in  remembrance,  especially 
for  soldiers.  As  he  knew  well  the  art  of  concen- 
trating his  force  on  a  given  point  at  a  given  mo- 
ment in  a  battle,  he  kept  fresh  the  memory  of 
the  days  of  victory ;  and  this  intensified  the  courage 
and  zeal  of  his  soldiers,  so  that  he  had  only  to 
mention  a  number  of  dates  and  names  to  set  the 
whole  army  aflame.  In  that  sense  he  used  to 
choose  certain  days,  but  there  was  no  superstition 
in  it.  It  was  the  same  in  regard  to  his  star.  One 
night  at  the  Tuileries  Cardinal  Fesch  had  said 
a  good  deal  in  a  moderate  tone  of  all  that  had 
been  done.  He  spoke  of  the  arch  that  is  strained, 
the  vessel  that  goes  so  often  to  the  water,  and 
so  on.  Napoleon  listened  attentively  to  him, 
and  when  the  cardinal  had  finished,  he  led  him 
to  one  of  the  high  windows,  and  pointed  to  the 
clouded  sky  above. 

*  Do  you  see  the  star  up  there,  uncle  ?  '  he 
asked. 


350  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

The  cardinal  looked  and  looked.  '  No  ; ' 
he  could  see  no  star. 

*  Well,  I  see  it,'  said  Napoleon  seriously, 
and  walked  away. 

Was  there  a  star  ?  No  one  can  say  ;  but  it 
is  at  all  events  certain  that  prudent  cardinals 
never  see  it.  There  was  no  superstition  in  the 
matter. 

To  be  quite  candid,  I  have  never  understood 
the  affair  of  the  Concordat  and  the  whole  of  his 
relations  to  the  papacy  and  the  Church.  I  can 
only  see  that,  though  Napoleon  had  to  deal 
with  a  pope  who  was  an  honourable  and  noble  man, 
yet  there  was  not  the  slightest  fear  of  the  clergy 
—or  any  hypocrisy — in  himself  or  any  of  those 
about  him.  His  proclamations  and  pronounce- 
ments never  spoke  of  anything  but  France, 
honour,  and  himself  ;  and  in  this  he  was  quite 
right.  He  had  great  princes  of  the  Church  in  all 
their  pomp  at  his  gorgeous  church  ceremonies, 
but  otherwise  he  had  no  use  for  the  apparatus 
of  religion. 

Money  he  treated  with  cold  indifference.  He 
never  suffered  cheating,  and  could  never  be 
imposed  on  by  the  big  financiers.  If  he  thought 
any  one  had  accumulated  too  much,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  tap  him  to  the  extent  of  several  mil- 
lions. The  kind  of  thing  that  we  have  seen  so 
often — kings  mixing  with  speculators  and  becom- 
ing so  dependent  on  them  that  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  country  is  really  ruled  by  the  men 
with  golden  crowns  on  their  heads  or  the  men 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  351 

with  silver  crowns  in  their  banks — was  incon- 
ceivable in  relation  to  Napoleon. 

He  was  moderate  in  eating  and  drinking. 
He  could  not  unbend  over  a  glass  with  his  higher 
officials,  as  some  kings  do ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  could  not  stoop  to  the  potations  and  the  sense- 
less abuse  of  power  that  so  many  kings  have  been 
guilty  of  since  the  days  of  Alexander  the  Great. 

He  knew  very  little  about  the  fine  arts.  He 
liked  order,  splendour  and  symmetry,  and  so 
he  was  best  disposed  to  architecture  and  decora- 
tion. His  taste  in  regard  to  paintings  was  poor, 
and  he  failed  to  appreciate  the  advance  made  in 
his  time.  In  literature  he  liked  best  a  well- 
arranged  drama,  with  great,  simple  passions 
described  in  verses  that  hung  solidly  together  like 
his  own  soldiers.  In  musical  matters  he  was  hardly 
any  better  than  the  usual  French  officer.  Beauti- 
ful singing  was  the  highest  musical  achievement 
in  his  esteem.  The  Italian  aria  with  the  most 
difficult  trills  and  cadences  sent  him  into  rap- 
tures. He  would  hardly  have  been  pleased  with 
more  elaborate  music,  in  which  pure  melody  is 
expressed  in  its  finest  shades  by  the  voice  and 
the  harmony  of  voice  and  instrument.  From  head 
to  heel  he  was  full  of  admiration  of  C  major. 
There  was  no  sharp  for  him  and  no  b  flat,  and 
the  minor  key  was  far  out  of  his  range. 

It  is  needless  to  point  out  the  vast  difference 
between  Napoleon  and  the  great  religious  founders 
who  had  also  caused  great  movements  in  their 
respective  ages.  In  their  case  the  movement 


352  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

increased,  and  only  became  a  veritable  power  after 
their  death.  When  Napoleon  died,  the  Napoleonic 
movement  was  over.  He  had  had  no  idea  to  give 
to  the  world.  His  thoughts  did  not  go  beyond 
his  own  life ;  throughout  his  whole  career  he 
never  thought  of  anything  but  himself.  He 
shrinks  at  once  in  comparison  with  a  modest  man 
of  science  who  expends  his  life  to  create  a  thought 
that  will  nourish  and  elevate  posterity.  But 
amongst  his  kind — amongst  those  in  whose  circle 
his  great  gifts  fated  him  to  penetrate,  namely, 
the  princes — the  Emperor  Napoleon  stands  out 
high  above  all.  He,  if  any  man,  was  the  ideal 
'  tyrant,'  in  the  old  sense  of  the  word. 

Napoleon  had  to  play  with  the  figures  that 
were  on  the  stage,  and  he  did  not  succeed.  In 
his  mind  peace  could  only  mean  a  pause  between 
two  wars.  The  idea  that  peace  could  be  the  nor- 
mal relation  of  the  nations  never  entered  his  head, 
or  the  head  of  any  man  about  him.  If  there 
were  any  head  that  harboured  such  an  idea,  it 
was  on  the  shoulders  of  some  unknown  man  in 
some  obscure  attic,  writing  of  his  Utopia  in  the 
dim  light. 

If  Napoleon  reached  the  highest  summit  as 
a  prince  and  a  commander,  he  was  also  the  last 
who  succeeded  in  gathering  about  his  person  all 
the  glamour  that  had  been  wont  to  accompany 
and  adorn  the  bloody  business  of  war.  There 
was  no  more  of  it  after  his  fall.  War  became 
afterwards  an  academic  study.  Military  affairs 
came  to  resemble  industrial  interests,  in  which  it 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  353 

is  the  best  machines  that  gain  the  victory.  We 
now  strip  our  armies  of  their  gold  cords  and  waving 
plumes.  The  admiral,  who  used  to  stand  on  the 
bridge  in  his  gala  uniform,  with  his  decorations 
and  sash,  now  sits  in  a  steel  box  and  presses  buttons 
like  a  telephone  girl.  When  the  glamour  goes 
from  a  thing,  it  is  near  its  end.  It  is  possible 
that  one  day  the  glittering  form  of  Napoleon 
in  the  remote  past  will  be  contemplated  with 
equanimity  by  the  idealists  he  so  much  despised ; 
on  that  day  when  we  shall  have  won  the  greatest 
of  all  victories — peace  between  nations. 

All  the  languages  of  the  world  have  used  their 
strongest  adjectives  at  the  top  and  the  bottom  of 
the  scale  in  regard  to  "this  man.  Many  writers 
have  even  speculated  as  to  what  a  remarkable 
animal  the  tiger  would  have  been — if  he  had  also 
had  the  qualities  of  the  lamb.  Nothing  is  perfect 
this  side  of  eternity.  Neither  in  the  kitchen  nor 
in  life  do  we  get  perfection  by  taking  a  little  bit 
of  everything,  and  putting  it  all  in  one  pot. 
Perfection  is  only  found  in  a  thing  that  has  all  that 
pertains  to  it,  and  not  a  trace  of  anything  else. 
For  my  part  I  am  glad  that  I  need  not  run  my 
adjectives,  either  the  worst  or  the  best,  to  death. 
For  me,  Napoleon  is  above  all  things  a  man — a 
male  through  and  through,  a  being  compounded 
solely  of  masculine  qualities. 

The  social  circle  at  Longwood,  the  Emperor's 
residence  at  St.  Helena,  lived  for  six  years  with 
the  great  man  as  its  centre.  There  was  General 
Montholon  with  his  wife  and  family.  His  wife 


354  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

presided  over  the  domestic  establishment.  General 
Bertrand  and  his  family  lived  at  a  short  distance 
from  Longwood.  Then  there  were  :  Las  Cases  with 
his  young  son,  General  Gourgaud,  the  Irish  physi- 
cian O'Meara,  and  a  number  of  faithful  ser- 
vants. These  few  men,  who  all  depended  on  the 
person  of  the  Emperor  in  one  or  other  way,  were 
strangers  to  each  other.  During  the  long  and 
painful  solitude — as  great  as  if  they  were  on  a 
ship  at  the  North  Pole — they  often  distressed 
the  Emperor  by  their  petty  quarrels  and  jeal- 
ousies, the  remains  of  their  earlier  ambitions. 
There  was  very  nearly  a  duel  between  Generals 
Montholon  and  Gourgaud. 

The  bitterness  was  increased,  and  the  Emperor's 
last  years  were  made  more  painful  by  the  pettiness 
and  refined  malice  with  which  the  English  treated 
him.  The  sort  of  life  that  was  led  about  Napoleon 
would  have  proved  intolerable  if  he  had  not  himself 
arranged  their  daily  doings  and  work  with  his 
characteristic  good  sense.  Each  one  had  his 
place  and  his  regulations,  just  as  at  a  court ;  and 
this  pitiful  discipline,  which  was  maintained  to 
the  end,  never  took  on  any  tincture  of  absurdity. 
The  Emperor  was  just  as  aloof  from  them  as  he 
had  been  at  the  Tuileries,  but  the  irresistible 
magic  that  always  surrounded  him  delivered  them 
from  the  tediousness  that  would  otherwise  have 
killed  them. 

The  Emperor  arranged  the  daily  round  for  him- 
self and  the  others  with  fixed  hours  for  work.  He  dic- 
tated an  account  of  his  campaigns  to  the  generals, 


NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS  355 

the  Italian  to  one  and  the  German  to  the  other. 
At  night  the  little  circle  sat  together  in  conversa- 
tion, and  listened  to  the  sea  breaking  hopelessly 
on  the  island.  The  Emperor  walked  to  and  fro, 
or  sat  down  to  tell  of  some  old  experience  or  talk 
of  his  men.  But  his  maladies  gradually  got  the 
upper  hand,  and  his  iron  frame  slowly  yielded. 
He  saw  the  end  draw  near  with  his  wonted  calm- 
ness. He  was  ill  during  the  whole  of  1820.  In 
1821  he  became  rapidly  worse. 

On  April  21st,  he  wrote  his  will ;  no  one,  from 
his  son  to  his  servants,  was  forgotten  in  it.  'I 
should  like  my  ashes  to  rest  by  the  Seine,  in  the 
midst  of  the  French  people  whom  I  loved  so 
much.'  It  was  one  of  the  few  wishes  of  his 
that  were  fulfilled.  I  fear  little  care  was  taken 
in  the  distribution  of  the  millions  of  francs  that 
made  up  his  private  fortune.  That  does  not 
detract  from  the  man ;  his  intention  was  good. 

'  I  leave  to  my  son  my  decorations,  snuff-boxes, 
silver,  etc  ;  and  my  arms,  saddles,  spurs,  uniforms, 
and  clothes,  the  grey  coat  and  the  blue  cloak  of 
Marengo.  I  give  Count  Montholon  two  million 
francs,  for  accompanying  me  here.' 

There  was  a  small  remembrance  of  his  mother 
and  all  his  sisters.  They  had  at  the  bottom  been 
strongly  bound  together.  He  even  spoke  in 
fine  terms  of  Marie  Louise  ;  although  the  English 
had  assuredly  not  spared  him  an  account  of  the 
way  she  was  behaving. 

On  May  2nd,  in  the  delirium  of  high  fever,  he 
called  out  the  names  of  the  generals  of  his  youth  : 


356  NAPOLEON'S  MEN  AND  METHODS 

'  Steingel,  Desaix,  Mass&ia  ! '  He  saw  the  sun 
of  Italy  flashing  on  the  bayonets.  On  May  4th  there 
was  a  great  storm  on  the  island,  and  it  tore  up  the 
last  tree  at  Longwood.  The  Emperor  lay  still 
while  the  storm  raged  without.  But  as  long  as 
there  was  a  spark  of  life  hi  him,  they  heard  him 
muttering  words  of  command. 

Years  afterwards,  until  1838,  when  the  curtain 
had  long  since  dropped  and  the  darkness  ^had 
settled  over  Europe  once  more,  Talleyrand  dragged 
his  lame  foot  to  the  green  tables,  and  sat  amongst 
the  clinking  piles  of  gold,  and  played  with  other 
gold-seekers,  new  and  old. 


PBINTBD  AT  THE  LYCEUM  PEESS,   37  HANOVER  STBEET,   LTVEBPOOL 


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